The New Girl in Tokyo (rewrite)
by XxButterflyxAngelxLover
Summary: This is the rewritten version of this story. I was forced to move to Tokyo with my mother when she got a new job. There, I met the mews and the creators, only to find out that I had known the creators when I was young. I also just happened to discover I was infused with a Blue Morpho Butterfly. What will happen? Will we be able to work together and defeat the new enemy?
1. Prologue

_Hey everyone! I'm back! I have finally started to get back into this, so I'm working on the rewrite. I will be updating rather frequently, probably about once a week. This is rather similar to the original version, but there are some differences._

_But enough of me talking, here is the prologue!_

Full Summary: I was forced to move to Tokyo with my mother when she got a new job. There, I met the mews and the creators, only to find out that I had known the creators when I was young. I also just happened to discover I was infused with a Blue Morpho Butterfly. What will happen? Will we be able to work together and defeat the new enemy?

AGES: Ichigo- 15, Lettuce- 15, Ryou- 15 (for the purpose of this story, his age doesn't change); Pudding- 10, Zakuro- 17, Mint- 15, Keiichiro- 23, Masaya- 15, Resha Anderson (OC)- 15, Jake Rainsford (OC)- 15 (he doesn't appear until later chapters)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.**

_**Prologue:**_

My name is Resha Anderson. I'm 15 years old right now. I have layered brown hair to the middle of my back that has blonde highlights in it. I have hazel eyes that are always hidden behind glasses. I was only five foot three inches, so I'm a little on the short side.

My parents divorced when I was about three, and I've lived with my mother ever since. I visited my dad in the summer time, but it was never the best time. He was often too involved with work to be able to spend a lot of time with me.

I had some great friends: Lily Warriner and Jackalyn Rouse. The three of us were practically inseparable.

But that was when I lived in America. Because my mother had gotten transferred in her job, I was forced to move with her to Tokyo, Japan. I was lucky and my mother was half-Japanese, so I had learned the language when I was young. Whenever my grandparents visited, we only speak Japanese, and often when it was just the two of us, we would still speak Japanese. I would often speak Japanese to my friends by accident, and they would just stare blankly at me or yell at me.

When we moved, I had to leave everything behind. I had tried to convince my mother to let me live with my dad, or with a friend, or my grandparents. But my mother wouldn't let me, no matter how many times I yelled and screamed at her to let me stay here. I grew to be okay with it. I had no choice, and maybe I would meet some new friends.

That was all before I met Ryou Shirogane, Keiichiro Akasaka and five mysterious girls. Now, my life has been flipped around too many times to count.

**Thanks everyone for reading! Please read and review!**

**-Butterfly**


	2. Chapter One: New Student, New Friend?

_Hey everyone! Since the prologue was so short, I'm adding Chapter One as well!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.**

_**Chapter One: New Student, New Friend?**_

It had started off as a normal day. I had woken up at 6:30am as usual. School had only begun a week ago. It was already September 8th. I changed into my school uniform: a white dress shirt with a black tie and a black pleated skirt, with long white socks. I put my hair into a high bun with a little fringe that my cousin had taught me how to do. After applying some light make-up and putting my glasses on, I headed downstairs.

"Good morning," my mother said as I entered our small kitchen. We had a large house for Japan, but I was grateful. I hated cramped places.

"Good morning," I said.

Mother made me breakfast and I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth after finishing it. I put on two rings—one from my mother and one from my grandfather—as well as a simple chain bracelet before heading downstairs, where my mother was waiting for me.

"Are you ready Resha?" she inquired.

"Yes," I said. I put on a pair of black ballet flats, and headed out to our car.

I watched the usual scenery as we headed to my school. I had surprisingly had an easy time fitting in my school, Tokyo High School. I had been asked to join the popular group, but had decided against it. I didn't like the way I had seen them treat people, and they really all were stuck up. There was a girl that had a foot locker near mine named Ichigo Momomiya, and she was rather nice. I had become friends with her, and her friend Lettuce Midorikawa, and Ichigo's boyfriend Masaya Aoyama. They were all rather nice.

"See you after school mom," I said, stepping out of the car.

"Love you," she said.

"Love you too," I said and shut the door.

People always looked at me strangely as I walked to the school. I used to think it was because I was new, and then I had been asked out by five different guys. Apparently American ladies were popular among the Japanese. I walked, my head held high, my backpack hanging loosely on my shoulder, to the shoe lockers, quickly taking my flats off and putting the school's shoes on.

"Ohayo Anderson-san!" a bubbly red-headed girl said, getting her shoes out of her locker beside mine.

"Ohayo Momomiya-san," I said smiling.

This was Ichigo Momomiya. I had a few classes with her, and had grown to know that if I really needed to talk to someone, she would listen to me. I considered her a friend already. Her boyfriend was on the Kendo team and one of the hottest boys in school. They always made me smile when they were together.

"Anderson-san, call me Momomiya-chan!" she said, putting her shoes on with a smile.

"Alright Momomiya-chan," I said smiling, "You can call me Anderson-chan then."

"Alright!" Ichigo said happily.

"Ohayo Ichigo-chan," a boy said. I looked up and saw her boyfriend, Masaya Aoyama. Tall, brown hair that was nearly black. He was definitely handsome—Ichigo had managed to get extremely lucky.

"Ohayo Masaya-kun," Ichigo said.

"Ohayo Anderson-san," Masaya said bowing.

"Ohayo Aoyama-san," I said bowing as well.

"How are you this morning?" Masaya asked.

"Very good, thank you for asking," I said, smiling as I readjusted my backpack.

"Ichigo-chan!" a girl with, oddly, dark green hair, wearing large coke-bottle type glasses, said, walking over to Ichigo and Masaya.

"Ah, Lettuce-chan!" Ichigo said smiling.

"Shirogane-san says that he wants us at the café right after school," the girl, who was Ichigo's friend and who I had started to get to know named Lettuce Midorikawa, said.

"Why?" Ichigo wined.

"Meeting," Lettuce said.

I could tell she wanted to say something more, but it was about something I wasn't supposed to know about. Oh well, if it's not my business, I don't plan to be involved.

"I'll see you all in class," I said, bowing as I headed to our classroom.

I entered the classroom and sat down in my seat. It was the far row, right by the window, middle seat. No one sat behind me, and Ichigo sat to my right. In front of me sat a guy name Kei Aino.

"Class, we have a new student," the teacher, Kinomoto-sensei, said after taking attendance.

I heard all of the other students whisper around me and wonder if it was a boy or a girl and if they would be attractive. I frankly didn't care that much.

"Please enter Shirogane-san," Kinomoto-sensei said.

I saw Ichigo stiffen in her seat slightly as a blonde boy with blue eyes entered wearing the school uniform, making him look rather muscular and extremely good-looking.

"Introduce yourself please Shirogane-san," Kinomoto-sensei said.

"Ohayo. My name is Shirogane Ryou," he boy said.

"Alright, you may take a seat behind Anderson Resha. Anderson-san, please raise your hand," Kinomoto-sensei said.

I raised my hand and realized that there was something familiar about this Ryou boy. No one in Japan really had blonde hair, so he probably wasn't from Japan originally. As Ryou passed me, I saw him smirk. I wasn't sure if it was towards me, or towards Ichigo, who's hands were now fists and she seemed to be angry.

We quickly went onto Science, and it was quickly Physical Education time for me.

I changed in the locker room, putting on the school's gym uniform of a white t-shirt with black shorts, along with sneakers.

"Hey Anderson-chan!" Ichigo said as she stretched.

"Hey Momomiya-chan," I said smiling, beginning to stretch beside her.

Ryou walked out, wearing the school's uniform for physical education class. I noticed Ichigo immediately start to get angry again.

"Something wrong Momomiya-chan?" I asked. I was determined to find out why she was so angry when Ryou was around and why he seemed so familiar to me.

"No," she said.

I could tell she was lying, just by the way that she was acting still, "Momomiya-chan, is it something about Shirogane-san? I can tell you're lying."

"How?" Ichigo questioned.

"Your body language—I can read people pretty easily," I said, "So what's the deal with him?"

"He's just a jerk that I know. I work at the same café with him. He actually owns it. And I have no idea why he's even in school. He's a genius," Ichigo said.

"Oh," I said. I had no idea what else to say.

"Okay class, you need to get ready for the races!" the teacher, Terada-sensei, said.

Track was the first sport in this school. I didn't care very much for track, but I had done it for a year in high school.

"Girls will go first for the mile run, and then the boys. The best racers will have another race against both genders later," Terada-sensei instructed.

The other girls and I got ready on the line. As soon as we heard the whistle blow, we ran.

I tried to keep my concentration and tried to keep my endurance up. But I was growing tired easily, and my mind kept drifting towards Ryou, and I had no idea why.

Other girls started passing me. I had been one of the ones in first place, and now was towards the end. I heard girls wondering if I was okay. I could feel my face becoming pale. Suddenly, I knew I wasn't going to last the race. I knew something was wrong with me. I knew that today wasn't going to be a good day.

The ground came quickly and I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe. I had no idea what was happening to me. Sure, I hadn't been that great at track in America, but I had never fainted or had anything like this before.

I heard the teacher asking me if I was alright, and saw other students gathering around me. But the one face that stood out to me was the face right beside mine. Ryou's.

"Are you alright Anderson-san?" a deep voice asked. It was filled with concern. I wondered who it was as I drifted into darkness….

I opened my eyes. The light shining directly into my eyes made me shut them immediately.

"Come on Anderson-chan, wake up…." I heard a soft voice say.

I recognized it as Lettuce's. Why would she be with me? Where was I? I opened my eyes again and groaned, bringing my arm over my eyes to block the light that was shining directly in my eyes.

"Thank goodness you're awake!" Ichigo said.

I groaned as I removed my arm and looked towards the side. But where I thought I would see Ichigo and Lettuce, I saw Ryou, looking out the window. He seemed so out of it, like he was truly admiring the scenery.

I had unknowingly stood up and walked over to his side, observing the scenery as well. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and suddenly felt light headed again.

"You should get back in bed Anderson-san," the deep voice that I had heard right before I fainted said. I knew it had to have been Ryou's then.

"What…what happened?" I asked.

"Sit in bed and we'll explain," Ryou said, taking his hand off my shoulder.

I then realized how close I was standing to him and blushed, walking over and sitting back in bed, trying to avoid the bright light that was coming from above me. It was only giving me a headache, "Is there any way we can turn the lights down? Or maybe off? They're making my head hurt…" I said. I realized after Ichigo and Lettuce stared at me blankly that I had said it in English, "Oh!" 

But before I could continue, Ryou seemed to understand and walked towards the light switch, turning it down.

"How did you understand me? I spoke in English, not Japanese," I said, this time switching to Japanese.

"I was born in America and lived there until I was ten," Ryou said. But he didn't say it in Japanese—he had spoken in English.

"Why are you speaking English?" I asked.

"You'll feel more comfortable speaking in English, won't you? And besides, we don't need Ichigo-san and Lettuce-chan listening," Ryou said.

"Why not? Shouldn't they be part of this conversation since they're in this room? Isn't it rude to ignore them?" I asked. Although it did feel good to be speaking in English. I was only able to speak English in, well, English class, and at home or if I was ever able to call one of my friends. I silently cursed that 13-hour time difference.

"It doesn't matter," Ryou said, "But what does matter is that you fainted." His voice had been cold, and uncaring. But I swore I heard a hint of concern in that last sentence.

"What's the big deal? I only fainted," I said.

"There's a reason why you fainted though. Have you had any strange dreams lately?" Ryou inquired.

I tried to recall any strange dreams. There were my usual dreams of me being back in America with my friends. And then I remembered last night's dream—I couldn't remember it exactly, but I knew it had been strange.

"I think I had one last night. I barely remember it though," I said.

"Come to Café Mew Mew today after school. I'll meet you at the gates and walk with you there," Ryou said.

"But I have to tell my mom!" I said, surprised at the sudden suggestion, "And I barely know you!"

"You trust Ichigo-san and Lettuce-chan, right?" Ryou said.

"Yes," I repeated, looking towards the two girls who seemed completely lost. They probably barely understood our conversation. They were probably only catching bits and pieces. I was glad I wasn't them then. But I wasn't happy to be me either at that moment in time.

"Then trust me. You can call your mother from the café's phone," Ryou said.

"Shirogane-san," I said. I had to get the question answered. I didn't care if it made things awkward or anything. I just needed an answer.

"What?" he said. His voice was cold and slightly annoyed.

"Why does it seem like I know you?" I asked.

"You'll probably find out at the café tonight," he said. Dammit!

"Shirogane-san, why won't you tell me now?" I asked. Yes, I sounded like I was pleading, but I really didn't care at that moment. I just wanted the damn answer.

"Because you don't need to know right now," Ryou said. His voice was getting a tint of anger in it.

"Shirogane-san, calm down!" Lettuce said, seeming to hear the anger in his voice.

"I'll get the nurse," Ryou said. He had switched to Japanese. I was glad I was able to understand both languages fluently and switch between the two quickly.

"What were you and Shirogane talking about?" Ichigo asked. I took a mental note of how she didn't add any formalities. I would have to ask her about that later.

"Nothing for you to worry about Momomiya-chan," I said. Something I knew I shouldn't tell them about going to the café later. I recalled Lettuce telling Ichigo that they were needed at the café tonight. I couldn't help but think that they may be going for the same reason.

"The nurse is going to check on you. You'll be going back to class,' Ryou said in English.

"Would you stop speaking in English?!" Ichigo said angrily, "You're shutting us out of the conversation and we're standing right HERE!"

"I told you Shirogane-san," I said in English. Sure, I was going against what I was saying, but it seemed fun to irritate Ryou.

"I wouldn't be talking baka," he said in English.

"You did NOT just call me a baka!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"No, he called me one," I corrected.

The nurse seemed completely confused, "Sorry sensei. Please, check what you need to," I said smiling at her.

"Alright," she said.

I began to glare at Ryou. I knew I would probably have hell to pay for all that I was doing later, but I really didn't care. I wanted to know the answer to my question!

"You really should answer my question Shirogane-san," I said after the nurse said I could leave, giving me what appeared to be a pass with Ryou's, Ichigo's, Lettuce's and my name on it.

"No," Ryou said, "Get changed and we'll get back to class."

"If you would leave I would get changed," I said, "I'm not some slut that will change in front of guys she just met today; unless you're looking for a show." It was a good thing the girls couldn't understand us.

"I would rather not look at your ugly body any longer than I have to," Ryou said, and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Oh he was angering me now. I was supposed to be the one making him angry! I wanted to hurt him so badly…he called me ugly. Being a Pisces, I was sensitive. Yes, I will admit, I can be overly sensitive sometimes. And had it been practically anyone else, I would have been fine with them calling me ugly. But that Ryou…for some reason, it hurt that he thought of me as ugly.

"Anderson-san, are you alright?" Lettuce asked, laying a hand on my shoulder.

I felt a tear roll down my cheek and I hastily wiped it away, "I'm fine. Just something he said hit me hard. Nothing to worry about," I said, smiling at Lettuce.

"What did he say? I'll gladly punch him! I've wanted to for the past two years…." Ichigo said, putting her fists up.

"It's nothing Momomiya-chan. If you don't mind, I'd really like some privacy so I can change," I said, getting up from the bed.

"Oh right, sorry," Lettuce said, and she and Ichigo left.

I tried not to let Ryou's words get to me. But they wouldn't leave my head. I looked towards the window after changing, and almost could have seen Ryou standing there. I shook my head and walked over. He hadn't let me look out before. It was a beautiful sight, and it was too bad that this wasn't the sight I saw in our normal class. I shook my head and walked towards the door, and silently opened it.

Ryou's fist hit my head, hard, "What the hell?!" I said angrily in English.

"Watch the language," Ryou said.

"Why don't you watch it when you're about to knock?!" I said angrily. I knew I shouldn't be shouting at him, especially in Japanese, since now Lettuce and Ichigo could understand us. But I really didn't care. I was just so mad at him for being such as asshole to me!

"Why don't you not take so long then?" Ryou retorted in English. I knew the girls would definitely be confused, "it's not like it's going to help you."

I was angry. No, not just angry. **Enraged**. "You are such a jackass!" I shouted in English. I knew that Ichigo and Lettuce wouldn't understand, but I didn't care. I just wanted to get away from Ryou. But of course I couldn't. He sat right behind me in class. I hated my life then.

"Anderson-chan!" I heard Ichigo yell. I looked behind me and saw Ichigo and Lettuce jogging towards me, and Ryou…Ryou seemed to only be walking, as if he didn't care that he had hurt me.

"What happened? Please, tell us," Lettuce said.

"Yeah, we're friends, aren't we?" Ichigo questioned.

I couldn't help but smile at that, "Yeah, we are. But this is between me and Shirogane-baka," I said.

"At least tell us what he said, please? There has to be a reason why you're so upset," Lettuce said, touching my shoulder gently.

"He called me ugly when I got mad the first time before he left the room, and then there he said that the time I was taking, which really wasn't that long and I was just looking at the scenery that he had stopped me from seeing earlier, wouldn't make a difference anyways," I explained. I hated that I had let something so simple get to me, but it was just something about Ryou.

"That jerk!" Ichigo said, "He doesn't care about other people's feelings! You should just ignore him…."

"Yeah, I know," I said. I couldn't help but look back towards him again though. But he was no longer what seemed like yards away. He was right behind me, "AH!" I jumped a few feet away, shocked at his closeness.

"Calm down," he said rolling his eyes.

"Why were you behind me?" I asked.

"Because there was no other room," Ryou said shrugging, "Come on, we're almost to the classroom."

"Whatever," I said, and headed towards the classroom, trying to hide my embarrassed face. WHY did I have to jump in front of him?

We entered the classroom, and I immediately could hear people wondering why Ryou had been with us. Then I realized, _I_ didn't even know why he was with us. Thankfully the class we were in was Study Hall, and the next class would be lunch break. I could feel my stomach beginning to hurt because it was hungry.

About to write Ryou a note wondering why he was with us, I suddenly felt a tap on my side. I looked down, and saw Ryou's hand with a piece of paper.

_**Remember, today—gates, right after school.**_

_A few questions. One—why do I have to go? Two—why did you come to the nurse's office with us? And the third one I'll ask later._

_**One—you have to find out why you fainted and about that dream. Two—I came because you fainted and because SOMEONE had to carry your heavy body to the nurse's office. And three—what is your question?**_

_Why the hell are you such an inconsiderate JERK?_

I laid it angrily on his desk and asked Kinomoto-sensei if I could go to the bathroom. As I looked back at Ryou, I noticed Ichigo seemed to have been watching, along with Lettuce, who sat a couple of seats in front of Ichigo. I glared at Ryou, and left the room after getting a pass.

I didn't know why I had wanted to leave that room so badly. I just felt I needed to. I didn't know what irritated me so much about Ryou and his behavior. Normally I could take insults fine. But when they came from him…I just couldn't handle them. Maybe it was because I was new. Maybe it was because I felt like I had known him before. Whatever the reason, I didn't like it.

After returning to the classroom and sitting down, I immediately felt a note being jabbed into my side. I ignored it, but Ryou seemed insistent on me getting it. After not feeling it in my side again, I thought he had given up. Nope. He decided he was going to toss it right on my desk. Great. Now I could either stand up, disrupt the class and throw it out; save it for later; or just open the damn thing now. I saw Ichigo look at me confused, and so I opened it.

_**For reasons that you don't understand. I'm sorry.**_

_Apology NOT accepted. And what do you mean I won't understand?_

_**First—why won't you accept it? At least I'm apologizing! I DON'T apologize! And you wouldn't understand because of what happened.**_

_I won't accept it because I don't know if it's true or not. How do I know you're not just doing it because you know others will be mad? (Yes, I'm not dumb. I know that others guys would gladly hurt you. Not to mention Momomiya-chan. Midorikawa-san seems too nice for that.) And you don't know what I've been through in my life so there's no way you can know if I would understand or not._

_**You just wouldn't understand. And fine—don't accept my apology.**_

The words he said seemed to have been the end of the note. I pocketed the note, and went back to homework.

The bell rang for lunchtime. Oh thank goodness! I was shocked at how hungry I was!

"Yay! Fish!" Ichigo said happily as they brought the food into the classroom. It didn't cease to amaze me still how different Japanese schools were from American schools.

"Different, huh?" Ryou said.

"Very much so. I've been going here a couple of weeks and it's still so weird…." I said, completely forgetting that I was supposed to be mad at him.

"Anderson-san!" a boy said. He was handsome, and had talked to me a few times in class and around our foot lockers. He seemed nice, but something just didn't hit me right with him.

"Hello Kino-san," I said smiling.

"Do you want to join me for lunch?" the boy, Matoki Kino, asked.

"Sorry, she's eating lunch with me," Ryou said. I was shocked, and looked at him weirdly, as did Matoki.

"Okay, maybe some other time," Matoki said, and left.

"What the hell was that about?" I seethed in English. Sure, I wasn't really going to have lunch with Matoki in the first place, but he didn't have to make it sound like we were together!

"Would you rather be eating with him or alone?" Ryou asked. I noticed a slight pink tint on his cheeks as he stood up and went to the food.

"Anderson-san," Lettuce said, walking over to my desk.

"Yes Midorikawa-san?" I asked smiling at her.

"Why don't you eat lunch with Ichigo-chan and me?" Lettuce asked.

"Sure," I said smiling, "Right now, I would take anything over Kino-san or Shirogane-san."

"What do you mean?" Lettuce asked.

"Kino-san asked me to eat lunch with him. No offense to him, but something just doesn't seem right about him to me. And Shirogane-san…well, on top of calling me ugly twice, he said I wouldn't understand why he was such an inconsiderate jerk and he tried to apologize although somehow I don't think it's a real apology."

"Anderson-san, any apology from him is true," Lettuce said, looking at Ryou's back, "He seems really cold a lot, but he's actually very sweet and caring. He just…he's been through a lot in his life," she shook her head, "The details I shouldn't go through since they're his business. But let's just say that there's a very good reason he acts the way he does."

I stared at Ryou's back, completely transfixed. I wondered what had happened to him that would have made him the way he was. It had to have been something bad—really bad.

My thoughts were interrupted as Ichigo bounded over, a plate full of fish in front of her, "You girls had better hurry before they run out!" she said, putting a piece of fish in her mouth, making me laugh.

"You better watch it baka before we end up having to expand the desk and expand your café uniform," Ryou said, walking over to our group.

"Shirogane-san," I said, standing and looking him in the eyes.

"What?" he said.

"Can we talk after school?" I asked. I had to find out what had happened. Even if he would be mad at me, I had to find out.

"Yeah," Ryou said.

I knew he meant we would talk as we walked to the café. And surprisingly, I was okay with that. I moved out of his way so he could eat, and went with Lettuce to get something to eat. I could hear my stomach growl as we entered the line.

"Hungry?" Lettuce asked smiling.

"Just a tad," I said and we started laughing.

**Okay, there is Chapter One! Hope you enjoyed it! Please leave me a review!**

**-Butterfly**


	3. Chapter Two: The Meeting at Cafe Mew Mew

_Hey everyone! Here is the next chapter!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.**

_**Chapter Two: The Meeting at Café Mew Mew**_

The rest of the day seemed normal enough. I changed my shoes, and walked to the gates of the school, where I saw Ryou leaning against the wall.

"Finally," Ryou said.

"Oh shut up. I just want to get this over with," I said rolling my eyes. I reached into my bag and grabbed my cell phone, calling my mother's cell phone.

"Hello?" mother answered.

"Hey mom," I said.

"What's up sweetie?" she asked.

"I'm going to go and hang out with some friends. I'm not sure exactly when I'll be home, but I'll try to be home by 7:00 for sure," I said. I hated lying to her, but I couldn't tell her that I was going to a café with a boy I had just met today.

"Alright, see you later," mother said.

"See you later," I said and hung up, "So I've got some questions and you had better answer them."

"Whatever," Ryou said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"You told me I wouldn't understand why you act the way that you do. But you never know. I know that it's none of my business really, but I still have a right to know. You say I should trust you. But I can't really trust you until I know more about you," I said, choosing my words carefully, "So please, tell me why."

Ryou was silent for a minute. I looked over at him, and saw his face downcast, his blonde bangs covering his facial expressions from my view.

"Shirogane-san…." I said, putting a hand on his arm.

I felt his arm stiffen. He was silent as he led me into a nearby park and sat on a bench, putting his hand in his hands. I wanted to know so badly what he was thinking.

"I lived in America until I was ten. The reason why I'm like this is because my parents were killed in a fire. My father was a scientist. I took over the experiment along with my friend, Akasaka Keiichiro," Ryou said, "You'll find out more about the experiment tonight at the café."

"Oh my….I…I'm so sorry Shirogane-san. I shouldn't have asked," I said.

Involuntarily, I reached out to him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him to me. I knew he wouldn't be happy about it, but I could tell that he was hurting, even if it had been five years ago, and that he just needed someone with him.

Ryou was stiff in my arms at first, and then seemed to relax. I knew I couldn't do much for him, but I wanted to at least do something for him….

"We should get to the café," Ryou said.

Those words brought me back to reality. I was supposed to be mad at him. And yet, I found I couldn't be any longer.

"Shirogane-san?" I said as we started walking again.

"First—no one finds out about what has—and will—happen this afternoon," Ryou said.

"Of course," I said nodding.

"So what did you want to say?" Ryou asked.

"Is that apology that you gave me earlier today still available?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said after a pause.

"Then I forgive you. And I'm sorry for how I've acted today," I said.

"It's cool," Ryou said shrugging.

A cute, pink café came into view. I didn't like pink that much, so all of the pink that was on the outside of this café was driving me insane, "Shirogane-san?"

"Hm?" Ryou said.

"How can you stand to work her? So much…pink…I can barely stand it," I said.

"I own the place. It was created in memory of my mother and as part of the experiment that you'll learn more about today," Ryou said, and opened the double doors.

"Finally! There's boss-man!" an energetic, ten-year-old girl with blonde hair in four small braids, wearing a Chinese top, shorts and slippers said as Ryou and I entered.

"And I just began to drink my tea," a 15-year-old girl with black hair in two buns wearing a cute dress said, sipping tea at one of the tables in the café.

I noticed Ichigo and Lettuce were talking to a tall, 23-year-old man with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail wearing what almost looked like a tuxedo. A tall, 17-year-old girl with long, lavender hair wearing fashionable clothes sat at the same table as the black-haired girl.

"Anderson-chan, what are you doing here?!" Ichigo asked when she noticed me.

"Girls, meet the newest member of the Tokyo Mew Mew team," Ryou said.

"What?!" we all exclaimed.

"Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you. Anderson Resha, correct?" the 23-year-old man said, walking over to me, and taking my hand, kissing it, "My name is Akasaka Keiichiro. I hope that Ryou has treated you well."

I blushed and recognized the boy's name. It was the person's name that took care of Ryou, "Shirogane-san, could you explain please?" I said.

"Yes, please do Shirogane," Ichigo said. I could tell she was getting angry with Ryou.

"Anderson-san, could you explain your strange dream to us?" Ryou said.

I looked at him; confused. Somehow I knew I needed to and that it would help figure out whatever was going on right now, "I was…floating. I don't remember much actually, so I'm sorry. But a…a butterfly flew towards me. But that's it…I think," I said, "I'm sorry, that's all I remember."

"That's all you need to remember," Ryou said, "Girls, this is Anderson Resha. She's from America and is now infused with a Blue Morpho Butterfly."

I stared at him, wide-eyed, "What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You've heard of Tokyo Mew Mew, right?" Ryou said. I had heard a little bit about them since moving to Japan, so I nodded, "You're the newest member of Tokyo Mew Mew. You're been infused with the Blue Morpho Butterfly."

"This…this is part of your father's experiment, isn't it?" I whispered in English so only he could hear and understand.

He nodded. "Let me see the right side of your neck," he said. I turned to him so that he could see it, "Girls, this is her mark." He pointed to something on my neck that I was unable to see, "Anderson-san, your power hasn't activated yet, but it will soon. This is a power pendant. You'll use it when your power is activated. And you'll work here at Café Mew Mew from now on." He handed me a yellow pendant with strange designs on it, "Don't let it leave your sight."

"Alright," I said, "And you mind introducing them? I only know Momomiya-chan and Midorikawa-san. And Akasaka-san now."

"Girls, introduce yourselves and say what you're infused with," Ryou said.

"Momomiya Ichigo. Iriomote Wild Cat."

"Midorikawa Lettuce. Finless Porpoise."

"Fong Pudding. Golden Lion Tamarin." The youngest girl said. I could instantly see it.

"Aizawa Mint. Ultramarine Lorikeet," the black haired girl said.

"Fujiwara Zakuro. Gray Wolf," the lavender haired girl said.

"So is this it?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah," Ryou said, "Work is right after school until 6:00 every night. You rotate who stays after to clean."

"Alright," I said.

The others walked out, most of them looking me over.

"Why aren't you leaving?" Ryou asked, looking at me in confusion.

"Um, well, I only moved here a little over a month ago. So I don't really know Tokyo," I said, blushing from embarrassment.

Keiichiro walked to the kitchen and Ryou walked towards the front doors. Were they going to make me roam all of Tokyo just to get home?

"Baka, you coming? I'll walk you home," Ryou said.

"Oh! Thanks Shirogane-san," I said jogging over to him, "But how do you know where I live?"

"Part of investigating for the mew project," Ryou said.

"Oh," I said. I knew it had to mean something if Ryou would tell me what happened to his parents and most of what he had said to me. I wasn't going to go any deeper then I already had, "Shirogane-san."

"What?" Ryou said.

"Thanks for telling me all that you did Shirogane-san. I know it means a lot," I said.

"Don't mention it," he said. His voice was cold as he said it.

If it had come from anyone else, I would have known it to mean nothing. But somehow with Ryou, I knew he meant it when he said it.

Ryou and I walked silently to my house, "Thank you Shirogane-san," I said bowing.

"Yeah, yeah. Remember—work until 6:00 and don't let your power pendant leave you," Ryou said.

"Right. See you tomorrow," I said.

"Anderson-san," he said as I was at the door. I turned around, "Don't let what has happened to me affect you. And don't feel sorry for me."

"All I can ever guarantee you is my best," I said, smiled at him and went inside.

"Who was that sweetie?" mother asked.

"A friend—his name is Shirogane Ryou," I thought I saw her eyes widen at that name for some reason, "He offered me a job at this café called Café Mew Mew. I hope you don't mind, but I took it. It's after school until 6:00 and I'm rotating days to stay and clean with the other five workers."

"That's fine," mother said.

**There is Chapter Two! Please leave me a review!**

**-Butterfly**


	4. Chapter Three: Remembering the Past

_Hey everyone! Here is Chapter Three!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.**

_**Chapter Three: Remembering the Past**_

_A nine-year-old version of me sat at a pond, her feet dangling in the water. A nine-year-old version of Ryou walked over._

"_Boo!" he said._

"_Ah!" the younger version said, nearly falling into the water, "Meanie Ryou! I almost fell in the water!"_

"_Sorry," Ryou said, taking his shoes off and sat down beside her, his legs dangling in the water as well._

"_It's okay!" she said, and dipped her hand into the water, splashing Ryou._

"_Hey!" Ryou said, and splashed back._

_A full-on water splashing fight began, "Hey Ryou," she said, leaning back when they were done._

"_Yeah Re?" Ryou said, leaning back as well._

"_Do you think we'll be best friends forever?" she asked._

"_Of course Re!" Ryou said smiling._

_She smiled and they made a pinky promise._

My alarm went off. I shot up, and the one thing on my mind was the younger Ryou's smile. So sweet, so innocent, so…beautiful. _'No Resha! You CAN'T think like this!'_ I thought, shaking my head as I turned my alarm off.

I got ready for school, changing into my school uniform, and then headed downstairs, doing the same thing I had done the day before.

"Anderson-chan!" Ichigo said as she got her shoes.

"Hey Momomiya-chan," I said smiling.

"How are you?" Ichigo asked.

"Good, what about you?" I asked.

"Pretty good," Ichigo said, "Oh! Remind me to ask Shirogane for the day off today—I'm supposed to have a date with Masaya-kun."

"Why don't you ask him now, I think he's coming right now?" I said.

Ichigo and I turned, and sure enough, a few feet away Ryou was. I couldn't help but notice how good looking he was in the school uniform.

"Yo," Ryou said, walking over and getting his shoes, which was locating right beside mine. Of course.

"Shirogane-san, can I talk to you in lunch?" I asked.

"Whatever," Ryou said, putting his shoes on.

"Shirogane! Can I have today off? I have a date with Masaya-kun," Ichigo said.

"Why should I let you?" Ryou asked.

"Shirogane-san, just let her," I said. Something told me that there would be a fight if I didn't interrupt and something told me that she didn't get to go out with Masaya often.

"Whatever," Ryou said, "You'll take Anderson-san's cleaning shift tomorrow though."

"Yay! Thank you!" Ichigo said. She skipped—not walked, _skipped_—away.

"Hold on—why are you making her take my cleaning shift tomorrow?" I asked.

"Because I have a feeling about tomorrow night, and I also think that you're going to want to talk to me more," Ryou said.

"You're right. I remembered something last night that I'm not sure if you remember," I said.

"Depends on what you remember," Ryou said, and headed down the corridor.

"Hey—wait up!" I said, slipping my shoe on as I began to go after him.

"What?" Ryou said.

"I don't feel like walking alone today," I said blushing, "Especially with some of the guys in the school."  
"What? Are you afraid of getting asked out?" Ryou said sarcastically.

"No, I'm afraid of being jumped. I almost was on like the third day of school because I said no to a guy," I said. I thought I saw Ryou's fist tighten at that and his eyes go darker, "I fought them off though, and Momomiya-chan helped me, and so did Aoyama-san."

"What about me?" Masaya said, walking over with Ichigo.

"I was just telling Shirogane-san how you and Momomiya-chan helped me when I was jumped last week," I said smiling, "I owe you for that still."

"It's fine Anderson-chan, it's what friends do," Ichigo said smiling.

"Thanks then," I said smiling.

"Yo, baka, our classroom is right here," Ryou said. Apparently I had walked passed it.

"Oh," I said, blushing as we entered the room.

"Good morning Anderson-san," Matoki said, walking over and bowing.

I could see some girls glaring at me. I then realized that he was probably one of the most popular people in the school, "Good morning Keno-san," I said and bowed.

"So, what do you say to dinner tonight or tomorrow night with me?" Matoki asked.

"Um, well, I can't," I said.

"Why not?" Matoki asked, shocked.

"I just met you Keno-san. If you think I'm that easy to get, you've got another thing coming to you," I said.

"Hundreds of other girls would KILL to go out on a date with me! And you're turning me down?" Matoki said angrily.

"Yes. And if there are hundreds of other girls, you shouldn't have a problem with getting a date," I said, "Now if you would please move, I'd like to get to my seat."

"I'm not moving until you say you'll go out on a date with me," Matoki said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Look dude, she said she won't go out with you. So lay off her," Ryou said, stepping in between me and Matoki. Why had he suddenly gotten protective? He had done this yesterday to me too….

"Why should I? It's not like she's your girl," Matoki said, and then looked Ryou over, "Or did you just happen to bang her first?"

I saw Ryou's backpack fall to the ground and right before his fist made contact with Matoki's face, I had grabbed it, "Shirogane-san, he's not worth your time. Leave it," I said, trying to lower his fist.

"You're going to just let him talk about you like this?" Ryou said angrily.

"I only said he's not worth your time. I never said I was going to let him continue it," I said, looking into Ryou's eyes and slowly bringing his hand down, "Thank you though."

"Whatever," Ryou said. He glared at Matoki and went to his seat, pushing passed Matoki with a rough shoulder.

"Thanks baby," Matoki said, putting an arm around me.

"I'm not your baby. I'm no one's baby," I said, pushing him off me, "So you better leave me alone. I don't like jackasses like you and next time I'll LET someone hurt you."

"Yeah right," Matoki said, and leaned towards me.

I had done something I had never done to anyone else before. I slapped him in the face. I was furious. He had insulted me, and he had insulted Ryou—who was an old friend of mine. He wasn't getting away with it. I was glad the teacher wasn't there yet though.

"Leave. Me. Alone," I said forcefully, glaring at him as I started to shake slightly.

Matoki just stared at me in shock. Finally, his head low, he walked away from me and I heard the classroom door shut a second later. I stood there, my hands shaking slightly, shocked at what I had done.

"Anderson-san? Anderson-san?" I could hear Ryou's voice. I didn't feel like I was really there though, "Yo, baka."  
I snapped my head up at that. I could feel tears threatening to come. I wanted the old Ryou there now—the one that would have helped me. Not the new, cold one. I felt a tear roll down my cheek, and a hand slip into mine, trying to steady it. It was Ryou's hand. I knew he'd probably be mad at me later, but I didn't care. I laid my head on his shoulder and started to cry. I could feel him stiffen slightly, and then relax and lay a hand on my back, rubbing it slightly. I could tell he wasn't used to this. After a minute, I took my head off his shoulder, stepped back slightly and rubbed my eyes.

"Thanks," I said, blushing as I smiled, "I, just, I didn't expect to slap him. I don't do that normally…."

"It's fine," Ryou said, and ruffled my hair, "He deserved it. I would have done it too. Come on, let's just sit down now."

"Right," I said, and sat down in my seat in front of him.

A tall, black haired girl walked over to me, "Who do you think you are, slapping Kino-san?!" she said.

"I think I've actually got dignity and guts," I said, looking up at her and standing up.

"Oh yeah? Are you sure it's not just so that you can have him for yourself later?" she retorted. I gave her a strange look.

"Why would she slap him if she wants him?" Ryou said, standing beside me and saying exactly what I was about to say, "And if you want him so badly—why don't you just take him?"

The girl seemed shocked that someone else would stand up for me. I was myself. I never expected Ryou to defend me. I looked towards Ichigo, and she seemed shocked as well. The girl, after flipping her hair with a "Humph!", walked away, and sat on her own desk, glaring at me.

"Thanks," I said, sitting down as Ryou sat down as well.

"Yeah," Ryou said.

"I can't believe it," Ichigo said, staring wide-eyed at us, "You just stuck up for someone Shirogane!"

"And your point?" Ryou said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I just…I can't believe it. I never would have expected you to stick up for someone," Ichigo said.

"Get over it Strawberry," Ryou said, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever," Ichigo said.

"Anderson-san!" Lettuce said, walking over.

"Hi Midorikawa-san," I said smiling.

"Are you alright?" Lettuce asked.

"Yeah, don't worry," I said, and looked at Ryou out of the corner of my eye.

"Are you sure?" Lettuce asked.

"Yeah, don't worry," I said, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Alright…" Lettuce said, and took her seat a couple in front of Ichigo.

The teacher soon came in and began attendance, and we were quickly just waiting for the announcements to come on. I wrote a quick note to Ryou: _Thanks for standing up for me this morning._

_**Yeah, yeah.**_

_Where do you want to eat lunch? We don't have to eat it here in the classroom, do we?_

_**No. It doesn't matter where we eat lunch. Why are we even eating lunch together in the first place?**_

_You'll find out. Wink._

_**That doesn't sound good.**_

_Let's just say I remembered something important last night._

_**Alright…whatever. Announcements are on.**_

I took that as a cue to shut up, and pocketed the note. Ryou might not remember about our past, but I didn't care. I was going to be friends with him again. And I was going to break that shell of his. No matter what.

The bell rang for lunch, "So where do you want to eat Shirogane-san?" I asked, turning to him as I put my books in my bag.

"It doesn't matter to me," Ryou said shrugging.

"Then why don't we go to the courtyard? It's really pretty out there," I said.

"Whatever," Ryou said.

We got our food, and head towards the courtyard. We sat down under a tree, the wind blowing lightly. It was truly beautiful there.

"So what do you want?" Ryou asked.

"Shirogane-san…I'm sorry," I said sadly. I was having a difficult time trying to figure out a way of putting everything that was going through my mind.

"For what?" Ryou asked, confused.

"Last night…I had a dream. It was before your parents died," I said, carefully choosing my words, "When we were friends. Do you remember?"

Ryou was silent for a minute. He stared at me, and I thought he didn't remember. I looked at the ground, and suddenly felt a tear rolling down my cheek. I had tried to convince myself that morning that if he didn't remember, it was okay. But it still hurt like hell that he had forgotten about our friendship.

Suddenly, Ryou was kneeling beside me, his hand cupping my chin, bringing it up so that my hazel eyes were locked with his gorgeous blue eyes. _'Gorgeous? No! I can't start liking him!'_ "Would you stop crying? It just took me a minute to believe that you actually remembered. I barely remember it as it is," he said.

I stared at him in shock. Suddenly, and without warning, I hugged him and we both suddenly were on the ground, with me on top of him. I could feel my face becoming beet red as our faces were only millimeters apart. I looked at his lips. I had never had this big of an urge to kiss a boy before.

"Would you get off of me Anderson-san?" Ryou said. I noticed his voice was slightly less colder than before, and a hint of amusement was in his eyes. But something else was in his eyes…was it…pain? And then I realized I was probably heavy on top of him.

"Sorry Shirogane-san," I said, getting off of him quickly, "And don't call me Anderson-san. Call me Anderson-chan or Re like you used to."

"If I call you Re people will think we're together," Ryou said.

I turned my face to hide the continuing blush, "So?" I said, trying to remain calm.

"After this morning do you really want people to think badly about you? Going out with someone you just met—that was exactly what you were against this morning," he said.

"Yeah, but we've known each other before!" I said.

"But everyone doesn't know that," Ryou said.

"Why…why do you care so much about what other people think?" I questioned, my voice soft.

"I don't. But I'd rather not have them talking bad about you Anderson-chan," Ryou said, looking towards the sky, "Not only were you one of my first—and only—friends, you're a mew. And therefore, you're my responsibility since I created the mews."

Of course. The mews. I suddenly remembered that he used to talk about his dad's experiments a lot when we were younger—he used to be obsessed with his dad's projects. "Shirogane-san?" I asked.

"What?" he said.

"Can you tell me more about the mews?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, "The mews were created originally by my dad, as you know. But, he died before he could perfect it or anything. I was lucky and had memorized his notes so that we still had them after the fire. So Keiichiro and I moved to Tokyo to complete it. A few years later, which is now only about two years ago, we perfected it. I tested it on myself and infused myself with a tabby cat's DNA. We then infused Ichigo-san, Lettuce-chan, Mint-chan, Pudding-chan, and Zakuro-chan with the DNA that they told you of last night. The others girls had to fight aliens after they were infused. They defeated the leader, Deep Blue, who was actually Aoyama-san."

"Why was I infused then if they defeated the leader already?" I asked, after realizing that he was done explaining the story.

"There's a new enemy. A new leader for the Aliens," Ryou said, "You've been infused because the girls can't do this one alone."

"Okay then," I said, and lay back, looking towards the sky, "Isn't it so beautiful?"

"Yeah, and your head is almost in my food," Ryou said.

"So?" I said. I looked at his face. I could tell he had almost smiled. Almost! Dammit.

"Just letting you know," Ryou said.

We just sat and talked the rest of the period, mainly about things we remembered. When we went back to the classroom, I surprisingly felt very light and very happy.

**That's Chapter Four! Thanks to: BlackHeart and Blacklightsmite for your reviews!**

**-Butterfly**


	5. Chapter Four: First Day at Work

_Hey people! Here is Chapter Four!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.**

_**Chapter Four: First Day at Work and a Fight**_

"Anderson-chan!" Ichigo said, walking over to my desk after I sat down, "Where were you in lunch? We missed you!"

"I was in the courtyard talking with Shirogane-san," I said smiling.

"What's the deal with you two?" Ichigo asked, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

I looked towards Ryou, and mouthed "Does she know about your parents?" and he nodded, and I looked back at Ichigo, who looked slightly confused, as I had asked it in English, "Before the fire, we were really good friends," I said, "I didn't remember until last night."

"Hold on—you know what happened to his parents already?! I didn't find out for, like, six months and you just met him!" Ichigo said, shocked.

"Well, I pretty much already knew," I said sheepishly, rubbing my neck.

"Oh," Ichigo said, "Oh yeah! Thanks again for this morning and getting Shirogane to give me today off."  
"No problem—just remember that you're cleaning for me tomorrow," I said smiling.

"Yeah, I know," Ichigo said sighing.

I walked to my shoe locker. I had, maybe, two other guys ask me out today. It was beginning to irritate me, "Ugh," I said as I put my outside shoes on.

"What's up?" Ryou asked, putting his own shoes on.

"Just annoyed; two guys asked me out—again," I said.

"Most girls would be glad," Ryou said.

"Yeah, well, I'm not like most girls. You should know that," I said.

"So why not just say yes to one of them?" Ryou said, "That will get them off your back, for a while at least."

"Yeah, I'm _totally_ going to go out with a guy that I met maybe a week ago," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Well sorry for giving you a suggestion," Ryou said, rolling his eyes at me.

"Oh be quiet," I said, hitting his arm lightly.

"You made sure you could work, right?" Ryou said.

"Yeah," I said, "Hey! Maybe you could eat with me and mom! I'm sure she'd love to see you again!"

"Maybe," Ryou said after a short pause.

"Would you mind walking me around Tokyo sometime? I'm still not comfortable walking alone here…" I asked.

"I guess it would be okay," Ryou said, "We'll have to do it after work or on a Sunday."

"Would tomorrow after work and again Sunday after I go to church work for you?" I suggested.

"Sure," Ryou said after a pause.

"Ah, welcome Anderson-san," Keiichiro said as we entered the café.

"I'm going up to my room. Give her her uniform and have one of the girls show her her locker," Ryou instructed.

"Of course," Keiichiro said as Ryou went up the stairs.

"He's changed…" I found myself saying to no one in particular.

"So you do remember," Keiichiro said smiling.

"Yeah, sorry I didn't yesterday," I said smiling.

"It's quite alright Anderson-san. You were young," Keiichiro said.

"So, can I have my uniform?" I said.

"Yes. When Lettuce-chan arrives I'll have her show you the locker room. The others are usually here after her but I believe Zakuro-chan has the day off," Keiichiro said.

"Momomiya-chan as the day off as well," I said.

"Ah," Keiichiro said, and got a box with a light purple ribbon out, "Here you are."  
"Thank you," I said.

"Oh, you beat me here Anderson-san," Lettuce said entering the café's back door.

"Yeah, Shirogane-san and I walked together," I said smiling.

"Lettuce-chan, could you show Anderson-san her locker?" Keiichiro asked.

"Of course Akasaka-kun," Lettuce said smiling.

"Thank you," Keiichiro and I said.

I followed Lettuce into the locker room, and she showed me a light purple locker with the name "Resha" in gold letters.

"This is your locker," Lettuce said.

"Thanks," I said, and put the box on the long bench in front of the lockers.

"So Anderson-san," Lettuce said as we began to change.

"First—call me Anderson-chan," I said.

"Okay," Lettuce said, and then blushed, "So, um, what's with you and Shirogane-san?" I could tell she was slightly uncomfortable asking the question, but still wanted to know.

"We were best friends when he lived in America with his parents," I said, "I didn't remember until last night."  
"Oh, okay," Lettuce said. I saw her figure relax.

"Why? Do you like him?" I inquired.

"Oh no, although I used to," Lettuce said blushing, "And then I met someone else."

"Who did you meet? You can tell me, we're friends," I said smiling.

"He's actually one of the aliens we had to fight. His name is Pai," Lettuce said, her face becoming red.

"That's great though," I said.

"Yeah, we should probably change now though," Lettuce said.

"Oh yeah," I said.

I opened the box to see the uniform neatly folded in it. The top, skirt, socks and shoe laces were all light purple, there was a line of light blue on the skirt, the front bow and the cuffs on the top were all light blue, and the headband had a wave of light purple on it. I wondered if Ryou remembered my favorite colors from when we were younger. Yes, they hadn't changed in five years. I quickly changed, and put my power pendant in my apron's pocket.

"You look great Anderson-san!" Lettuce said as I came out of the locker room.

"Thanks Midorikawa-san, you do too," I said smiling.

"Call me Midorikawa-chan, or Lettuce-chan; anything you want really," Lettuce said smiling. I wondered what had made her in such a good mood all of the sudden.

"Thanks Lettuce-chan," I said, now grinning. I ignored the questions on her behavior.

"Start working on opening the café girls," Ryou said.

"Right Shirogane-san," Lettuce said, and went up to the front dining area.

"You still remembered, even after five years, didn't you?" I said.

He only turned his head, but I could see the hint of pink on his cheeks, "Just get to work. Have you ever waitressed before?"

"Yeah, I have at my school's carnival. What do I say when they come in?" I asked.

"Welcome to Café Mew Mew," Ryou said.

I nodded and then went to help Lettuce take chairs down and get the café ready to open.

"Anderson-san, you're so pretty!" the blonde I instantly recognized as Pudding said, running over and hugging my leg, already changed into her orange and yellow uniform.

"Ah, okay, you're _definitely_ infused with a monkey!" I said laughing as I nearly fell over.

"Yeah! And now you get to see all of my tricks!" Pudding said energetically.

"That should be great," I said smiling.

"Oh Anderson-san," Keiichiro called.

"Yes Akasaka-san?" I said, turning to see him standing in the doorway of the kitchen and the café.

"Come back here please," he said.

"Alright," I said, and once Pudding let go, I went to the kitchen where Keiichiro was, "So what's up?"

"First—you look great," he smiled and I blushed slightly, "And you'll need to stay after so that you can get a tour of the café. Either I or Ryou will take you. And finally, to warn you of what goes on around here: Lettuce-chan works hard, but often drops plates; Pudding-chan will work hard but does tricks half of the time; Mint-chan doesn't do any work and usually just drinks her tea; and Zakuro-chan, when she's here, sometimes scares the customers away. Ichigo-chan is really the only one that actually works here. Although she and Ryou will get in fights sometimes," he explained.

"Okay, thanks," I said. I knew I had an interesting day ahead of me from what he had just explained.

"Of course, and if you need anything, just call for me," Keiichiro said.

"Alright, thanks again," I said.

He wasn't kidding. Only an hour into work and I wanted to get out already. Lettuce had dropped countless amounts of plates, Pudding had broken half that amount because of her tricks, and Mint hadn't moved from her table with her tea. I contained my anger for the rest of the shift though, and quickly changed afterwards.

"Man, if that's what Momomiya-chan usually has to go through, I feel sorry for her," I said as I sat at a table, a piece of cake in front of me. Lettuce was working on cleaning the front of the café, Keiichiro was finishing the dishes, and Pudding and Mint had already left.

"Who said you could have a piece of cake?" Ryou said, walking down the stairs. I could see in his eyes a hint of amusement although his eyes and voice were still cold as ice.

"Akasaka-san," I said smirking.

The next thing I knew, he had taken the fork from my hand that had cake on it, and had ate the cake.

"Jerk," I said, glaring at him as he put it back on my hand.

"You ready for the tour?" he asked.

"Can I finish this cake first?" I questioned.

"No," he replied. I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. Either way, it irritated me.

"Shirogane-san! You have NO IDEA how tough today was for me!" I said, standing up angrily.

"Oh really?" he said, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes—I didn't even get to take a break!" I said.

"Aw, you poor baby," he said sarcastically.

I glared at him. He was really getting on my nerves again. And, dammit, WHY did I want to kiss him so badly?!

"Finish your cake," Ryou said, snapping me from my thoughts.

I sat down again and continued to eat my cake, glaring at him the entire time.

"Finally," Ryou said when I was finished eating.

"Oh shut up and give me the tour," I said, rolling my eyes as I quickly cleaned my dishes.

"Thanks for the tour," I said as we entered the kitchen after the end of the tour.

"Yeah," Ryou said and grabbed a jacket, "Come on, I'll walk you home."

"You don't have to," I said blushing.

"You said earlier that you still weren't comfortable walking around alone here in Tokyo," Ryou said.

Dammit. Why did he have to remember that I said that? Oh well, "Whatever," I said, trying to hide my blush from him.

"Come on," Ryou said, opening the back door.

"Right thanks," I said, and followed Ryou out.

We walked silently over to my house. Thinking it wouldn't be that cold when I got home, I had left my jacket at my house. And of course, I had become cold. I shivered and began to blush as I saw Ryou look over at me after I did so.

"So you still get cold easily like you used to, huh?" Ryou said.

I only nodded as I looked at the ground, avoiding his gaze. I suddenly felt something on my shoulders, and two sleeves were hanging by the arms, "What?" I said, and looked at Ryou, who now had no jacket on.

"What does it look like?" Ryou said, "Put it on so you aren't cold anymore," I noticed a pink tint on his cheeks. I wondered if it was because of the cold or if he was blushing.

"Thanks," I said as I put it on correctly. It smelled so nice.

"Yeah," he said.

"So tomorrow after work we're just going to walk around Tokyo, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Would you say something other than "yeah" for once?" I asked, suddenly irritated at his vocabulary.

"Yeah," he said smirking.

"Jerk," I said, glaring at him.

"Of course; if I wasn't I wouldn't be me," Ryou said.

'_You'd still be you…you'd just be the you that you were before everything happened. You'd be the one that I know the best.'_ I thought sadly.

"That me is gone," he stated.

"What? Did you just read my mind?" I said, gaping at him.

"No, you just voiced your thoughts out loud baka," Ryou said.

"Oh," I said blushing.

"Yeah," Ryou said.

"You said that you was gone…what do you mean?" I asked after a minute of trying to process his words.

"The one that you knew when we were younger is gone," Ryou said, "I'm no longer that person."

"You could be if you really wanted to though Shirogane-san," I said. My voice was quiet as I said this. We were in front of my house now.

"And I don't want to be that old me," Ryou said, and started to walk away.

"Don't walk away, please, Shirogane-san," I said, reaching and taking his hand.

"The old me that you knew is gone Anderson-chan. I don't want to be that person again," Ryou said. His voice was colder than I had ever heard it. And it hurt. I wanted the old Ryou back. I wanted the Ryou that would smile; the one that would make everything okay again; the one that I cared about; the one I now knew I had fallen in love with—even though we were less than ten years old. A tear fell down my cheek unknowingly, and I hated it.

"Why not Shirogane-san? Why don't you want to be that person again?" I asked. I was trying to stop the tears and stop him from leaving. I was glad he hadn't resisted me at all. At least, not yet.

"Because I don't deserve to be happy since my parents are dead," he stated.

He started to walk away, slowly making my hand let go of his. I wasn't going to let him leave though. I wasn't going to give up. I went so I was in front of him and suddenly hugged him, "Do you honestly think that they would want you to be sad because they died? I know that they would want you to be happy Shirogane-san," I said. Tears started to fall down my cheeks even harder.

I suddenly felt his hands on my shoulders. It wasn't a reassuring way though. He pushed me off of him, making me stumble back and fall to the ground, my hands instantly letting go of him and trying to break my fall. I landed on the ground, tears streaming down my cheeks again and Ryou walking away.

"Please, no, Ryou…please, come back…" I sobbed.

**There you go! Please review! I hope you liked it!  
**

**-Butterfly**


	6. Chapter Five: Getting Together

_Hey everyone! Chapter Five!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.**

_**Chapter Five: Getting Together**_

I didn't know how long I was out there. All I knew was that it had started to rain. I could hear people walking passed me, wondering what had happened; staring at me. No one stopped to ask me though. I knew I should stand up and go in the house. But I didn't want to. I wanted to just stay down there and hope that Ryou would come back to apologize—do something that the old Ryou would have done. I just wanted to not do anything for once.

After what seemed like hours I finally decided to get over it and stand up. I stood up weakly, my knees feeling like they were going to give out on me at any moment. I hated this feeling of weakness.

My mother immediately bombarded me with questions, such as "What happened? Why are you so late? Whose jacket is are you wearing?" Upon hearing the question about the jacket, I took it off and began to cry again. I had no idea why Ryou was affecting me like this. Was I…was I still in love with him? I thought hard about all of this. In all of my relationships in America, I had only once truly felt like I was "in love". I had only cried once because a guy was like Ryou was towards me. Then I realized it—I truly was in love with Ryou Shirogane. Oh. Shit. More tears started to fall as I realized this. My mother had now gotten a box of tissues and was rubbing my back as I sat in our living room, crying all of my emotions out.

When I was finally done crying, I told her everything, except for the mews that is. She told me that it was going to be okay, and that if he treated me like this, he wasn't worth my time—that I deserved better than that.

But something told me that I had to stay with him—that he needed me just as much as I needed him. Yes, I realized, I needed him. I needed him to joke around with; needed him to not only be the new Ryou—the Ryou that was going to stick up for me, even if it shocked everyone; the Ryou that was going to just sit and talk to me like we had done during lunch; the Ryou that would walk me home; the Ryou that would steal my cake. And I needed the old Ryou too. I needed the Ryou that I knew I could go to when I needed help; the Ryou I knew I could always count on. **I needed him.**

More tears started as I came to that realization as well. All I did through most of the night was cry. I finally cried myself to sleep, telling my mother to still wake me up for school in the morning.

My mother shook me awake. I opened my eyes, and was blinded by the sunlight coming in from the windows. I looked at my watch that was still on from the day before. It was 6:30, which meant that she did wake me up in time for school.

I thanked my mother and got changed into the school's uniform. I threw my hair up into a ponytail and didn't put any make-up on. I didn't care what I looked like that day. I just wanted to get the day over with. I knew that if I missed school, not only would it be hell to catch up, but it would also prove to Ryou that he had affected me. And yes, he had affected me, but I didn't want to let him know just how badly he had affected me with that conversation.

No, I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry over him again. He had seen that all too many times.

Mother drove me to school, and I could tell she was worrying a lot about me. I didn't care, and left without saying much to her at all.

I went to my foot locker, and immediately noticed the concerned looks on everyone's faces as they watched me. They could tell that something had happened.

"Anderson-chan, is something wrong?" Ichigo asked.

I could fear footsteps behind me. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Ryou, "Ask the jackass there," I said, putting my shoes on and leaving. I didn't even look at Ryou. I was going to let him know just how angry he had me.

I could hear Ichigo talking—no, not talking, _screaming_—at Ryou, and I had to smirk at this fact.

"Anderson-chan?" Lettuce said, walking over to me as I headed to class.

"Oh, hi Lettuce-chan," I said smiling slightly.

"Is something wrong?" Lettuce asked. At least _some_ people cared enough to make sure that I was alright.

"Just something happened between me and Shirogane-san last night," I said.

"Oh," Lettuce said. I could tell she wanted me to elaborate on what exactly had gone down. But I didn't want to.

At least not yet, "I'll tell you in lunch," I said simply.

"Alright," she said smiling.

We entered the classroom together, and I immediately went to my seat, wanting to avoid everyone's questions and anything else. I heard someone come down my row, and looked up. It was Ryou. But he wasn't meeting my eyes, but looking everywhere else. I was glad—it meant that he knew he had done something bad. He had better feel guilty about what he did.

"SHIROGANE I AM NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!" Ichigo shouted angrily as she entered the room.

"Shit," I heard Ryou curse as he sat down.

"Aw, poor baby," I said sarcastically in English, glaring at him.

"It's your damn fault!" Ryou retorted in English.

"So what?! You deserve whatever Momomiya-chan is going to give you!" I said angrily. I knew people wouldn't understand us unless they were excelled in English, and I was grateful for this fact.

"And why is that?" he questioned.

"Because of last night!" I said. I could feel the tears threatening to fall as I stood up, enraged at him.

"What about last night?" he inquired.

"Oh, I don't know! There's the fact that you were a total ass to me, the fact that you _pushed me to the ground_ and that you didn't even care to make sure that I was okay after you pushed me!" I said. I closed my eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay.

"You had no right to judge me last night! You had no right to talk about my parents like that! You had no right to say anything that you said last night!" Ryou shouted, standing up as well.

"NO RIGHT?! I was your best friend! I knew your parents maybe just as well as you did! They were like another set of parents to me! I had EVERY RIGHT to say what I did last night!" I exclaimed.

Tears of anger were threatening to fall down my cheeks. I had to keep them out. Ryou was silent in front of me. I looked in his eyes. I was able to read them so easily, even if I could see he was trying to put a shield up in front of me. Pain. Anger. Sadness. So many more emotions that I couldn't read or understand.

I turned my head to avoid his gaze, and noticed that all the other students were looking at us. Some shocked, most confused. I looked at Ichigo and Lettuce. Both were extremely confused.

I sighed and sat back down in my seat. I could feel Ryou's eyes still on me as I sat down. A tear rolled down my cheek and I turned my head towards the window, hoping he wouldn't notice. I wouldn't let him see me cry again. What he had said and done had hurt me. It had hurt me so badly….

I suddenly felt someone grabbing my arm and pulling me up from my seat. It was Ryou. He dragged me out of the classroom, and although I didn't want to go with him, I didn't complain. I knew I didn't have the energy to fight him any longer. I wasn't able to speak anymore. My voice was hurting from all of the yelling we had done.

"Look Anderson-san—"Ryou began.

"Just answer my questions," I interrupted. He still gripped my arm. He let go and I leaned against the wall. He nodded and looked into my eyes, "Why don't you want to be the old you?"

"I told you yesterday—I don't deserve to be happy," Ryou said.

"Everyone deserves to be happy though Shirogane-san," I said. My eyes and my voice softened as I saw his eyes become dark and clouded over slightly. I touched his arm, making him look at me again, "Don't hurt me for saying this, please. But you know that your parents would want you to be happy. They wouldn't want to you to be so mad and so cold."  
"I…I know," he said softly, sighing.

"Then why are you?" I asked.

"Because I had to leave something really important to me behind five years ago," he said. His voice had become a whisper and I barely heard him speak.

"What did you have to leave behind that was so important?" I asked.

He didn't answer me. I noticed he was avoiding my eyes. I touched his face, making him look at me, "Please tell me Shirogane-san," I whispered.

I didn't know what was happening at first. But all of the sudden, I felt Ryou's lips on mine. My eyes widened, and I noticed that his were closed. I closed mine as well, and started to kiss him back. I could feel he was shocked, as he hesitated for a second, and then continued to kiss me.

We broke away, needing air. My breathing was heavy and I could feel my heart racing. I could tell my face was becoming red. Ryou cupped my cheek in his hand, "You," he whispered, his eyes bearing into mine.

"I kind of figured that," I whispered, smiling slightly.

"I…I'm sorry Re," Ryou said, his eyes downcast.

"I am too. I went overboard this morning and last night," I said, "I should have just let you be."

"No," he said, "You did what you should have done. You helped me. I'm not going to guarantee anything, but I'll try to be like I used to be."

"So you'll actually smile?" I said.

"Yeah," he said.

He smiled slightly and I couldn't help but hug him tightly. He hugged me back, and I thought I heard a chuckle come from him.

"Shirogane-san," I said, laying my head on his shoulder. I hadn't felt this comfortable in a long time.

"Ryou," he said.

"What?" I said, pulling back slightly so that I could look into his eyes.

"Call me Ryou," he said.

"Call me Re then," I said smiling.

"We need to get back to class," Ryou said, releasing me slowly.

"Right…Ryou-kun," I said, blushing as I let go of him.

"You two got lucky. Kinomoto-sensei isn't here yet," Ichigo said as we entered and sat down in our seats.

"Good," I said smiling. I knew I wouldn't be able to stop smiling all day now.

"Why are you so happy now?" Ichigo asked, looking in between Ryou and me.

"You might notice why later, but you'll find out at lunch for sure," I said, looking at Ryou.

"Um, okay?" Ichigo said, clearly confused.

I then realized I hadn't asked Ryou what I wanted to ask him before he told me to call him Ryou. I was about to write him a note when I felt my side being jabbed: _**what were you going to ask me?**_

_I was going to ask if what happened in the hall meant we were together._

_**What do you think?**_

_Yes…._

_**We have a winner! Lol.**_

_Lol. Kinomoto-sensei is here._

Ryou must have kept the note, because I never got one back.

It was lunchtime. I still hadn't stopped smiling, and Ichigo still hadn't figured out why.

"Spill now Anderson-chan!" Ichigo said.

"Alright, alright!" I said laughing, and then turned to Ryou, "You don't mind eating with them, do you Ryou-kun?"

"Uh, no, I guess not," Ryou said.

"Great! Do you want to eat in the courtyard?" I suggested.

"Sure," Ichigo said, "I'll tell Masaya-kun and Lettuce-chan."

"Alright Momomiya-chan," I said, smiling even more. I couldn't believe how oblivious she could be sometimes—I had just called Ryou, Ryou-kun right in front of her, and she didn't catch on.

"Call me Ichigo-chan. I noticed you call Lettuce-chan that too," Ichigo said smiling.

"Alright," I said.

"Man, you really can't stop smiling today," Ryou said after she left and we were still getting our books around.

"I'd say I'm surprised you haven't smiled yet, but yeah…." I said, letting my sentence hang. I knew he'd know what I meant.

"Don't make me feel bad," Ryou said, rolling his eyes.

"I wasn't trying to for once," I said.

"Oh," Ryou said. I couldn't help but notice the tint of pink on his cheeks.

"Come on, let's just get some food and meet them at the courtyard," I said smiling, taking his hand.

"Okay," Ryou said. He released my hand, only to hold his out in front of me.

"What?" I said, confused at his actions.

"Give me your backpack," he said.

"Oh," I said, blushing as I handed him my backpack.

We quickly went and got food, and left the room, heading to the courtyard. I knew people would start to wonder why we were so close, and why he was carrying my backpack. And frankly, I didn't care what any of them thought.

"Okay Anderson-chan, spill!" Ichigo said as soon as Ryou and I sat down with her, Lettuce and Masaya.

"What are you talking about Ichigo-chan?" Masaya asked.

"Anderson-chan hasn't been able to stop smiling ALL DAY and that was only AFTER she went into the hallway with Shirogane!" Ichigo said, pointing a finger and Ryou and I.

"Well if you were smart baka you would have figured it out by now," Ryou said.

"Eh, be nice Ryou-kun!" I said, "You promised—remember!"

"Damn," Ryou cursed, glaring at me slightly.

"Hold on—did you just call him Ryou-kun?" Ichigo said.

"And it looks like we have a clue!" Ryou said.

"And Shirogane was carrying Anderson-chan's bag…he wasn't being cold during the breaks to her…." Ichigo said, and then snapped her fingers, "AH-HA! You two are dating!"

"And we have a winner!" I said. I started laughing, and then looked to Ryou. He was unable to contain the chuckle along with a small smile, "YES!"

"Huh?" Ichigo said, looking at me in confusion.

"Yes! Yes! YES!" I said happily, jumping on Ryou happily. Okay, maybe I was a little too happy that he was smiling, but I didn't care! He was actually smiling again!

"Eh! Re-chan!" Ryou said, and then started laughing.

"Yay!" I said happily, hugging him tightly.

"Eh, calm down Re-chan," Ryou said, "Yes, I smiled. Yes, I laughed. So you can calm down already!"

"Sorry, I'm just really happy," I said, grinning as I let go of him.

"You just got lucky you didn't get any of my food on you," Ryou said.

"Okay, what just happened?!" Ichigo said.

"Oh, sorry," I said, rubbing my neck, "Let's see…where to start…."

"Re-chan and I know each other from when I lived in America when I was young. And yesterday we ended up fighting because of the way I had changed. This morning that was what we were screaming about in English. We got everything sorted out, and I promised I was going to be more like the old me," Ryou explained.

"So you're actually going to be nice?" Ichigo questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yes baka," Ryou said.

"Eh," I said, poking him.

"Sorry, yes, Ichigo-san," Ryou said sighing.

"Awesome!" Ichigo said happily, "But do we want to know what happened when you two were in the hallway?"

That made me blush, Ryou blush, and even made Lettuce blush. I could tell she wasn't used to intimate talks like that and was very shy. I found it sweet.

"Ichigo-chan, that's their own business," Masaya said.

"Ah, thank you Aoyama-san," I said sighing.

Masaya only smiled at me, "Thanks for covering for Ichigo-chan last night too," he said.

"Hey, it's no big deal. But I had no idea what you went through Ichigo-chan! That was difficult last night…." I said.

"Oh man! I forgot that it was your first day yesterday! Oh, I shouldn't have gotten out of work! I'm sorry!" Ichigo said.

"She handled it fine, so relax Ichigo-san," Ryou said.

"Yeah, although I dropped a lot of plates…many of them almost hitting her…" Lettuce said, blushing slightly.

"Lettuce-chan, don't worry about it. I didn't get hurt, and that's all that really matters," I said smiling.

"Right," Lettuce said, returning my smile.

"Hopefully now the workload won't be as hard since there will be two of us that will actually be working. No offense Lettuce-chan," Ichigo said.

"Yeah," I said smiling.

"I actually don't have after school practice for a while now. Kendo season doesn't start for a few weeks," Masaya said.

"Come to the café to get your uniform again," Ryou said sighing.

"Thank you Shirogane-san," Masaya said.

"Yeah, yeah," Ryou said, eating his food.

"My question for you, Ryou-kun, is why don't you work at all?" I asked.

"I own it," Ryou said.

"So? Doesn't Akasaka-san own half of it too?" I debated.

Ryou looked at me. I could see shock and confusion in his eyes. I had merely been guessing at that. He had said that it was part of the experiment, so I just assumed that Keiichiro owned half of it.

"Always were smart on guessing things like that," Ryou said smirking.

"I hope I didn't hurt your—"I began.

"Don't finish that sentence—you didn't," Ryou interrupted.

"Alright," I said, "And you didn't answer my question—why don't you work at all?"

"Because you girls can handle it yourselves," Ryou said.

I glared at him, "Don't lie to me."

"Alright, alright!" Ryou said, holding his hands up, "I just don't, okay?"

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes at him.

**There you go! Thanks to: Necroarcnaphoya and BlackHeart for your reviews! Hope you liked this chapter!**

**-Butterfly**


	7. Chapter Six: Lots of Drama at the Cafe

Hey everyone! Here is the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.

**Chapter Six: Lots of Drama at the Café**

I waited for Ryou at our desks after our final class. He was surprisingly taking a long time.

"Sorry, my books were being annoying," he said. He must have noticed my slightly annoyed face.

"I kind of figured," I said. I wasn't entirely sure why I was in such a mood to just get out of there, but I was.

"Whatever," Ryou said shaking his head.

"Anderson-san!" Matoki said, running over as we exited the room.

Did he not understand when I slapped him? Or was he too stubborn for his own good? I groaned and turned around to face him, "What?" I spat.

"Go out with me," he said.

"Did you not get the picture when I slapped you yesterday? I'm not going out with you! I _just_ met you!" I said.

"Does that really make a difference?" Matoki said. He reached out and cupped my cheek. I was about to pull back but Ryou already had his wrist and pushed him off of me, standing in between the two of us.

"Leave my girl alone," Ryou spat. I knew they were the wrong words to say instantly.

"Oh, so you won't go out with me but you'll go out with someone who you met two days ago?" Matoki said, raising an eyebrow at us.

"We knew each other in America," I explained.

Matoki was silent, "Leave," Ryou said, glaring at him. Matoki listened, and walked away, glaring at us.

"Are you okay?" I asked after a minute of silence between us.

"Yeah, what about you?" Ryou asked.

"I'm fine. Let's just go to the café," I said, reaching for his hand.

"Right," he said, and held his hand out again.

"I can carry my own bag," I said.

"Oh well, hand it over," Ryou said.

I sighed and handed him my bag, knowing that it was pointless to argue with him. And it was nice to actually have someone doing things for me. "Oh, do you mind stopping at my house tonight before we go around Tokyo?" I asked as we got our shoes on.

"No, I'm taking you out to dinner tonight so you'll want to talk to your mother anyways," Ryou said.

"You too! I'm sure she's missed you Ryou-kun," I said.

"I won't be able to escape, will I?" Ryou said.

"Nope," I said grinning.

"Fine," Ryou said sighing.

"Thanks," I said.

"Yeah, yeah," Ryou said.

We walked silently to the café. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence though. We were both just comfortable being with each other—just like it had been when we were children together.

"You don't need anything from your bag, right?" Ryou said as entered the café.

"No, why?" I said.

"It'll be in my room then," Ryou said, walking towards the stairs.

"Why? It can stay in my locker," I said.

"Don't worry, I won't look in it," Ryou said, rolling his eyes. That wasn't what I was concerned about necessarily, but it was a good point.

"Fine, we just better not forget it later," I said.

"We won't Re-chan," Ryou said, and went upstairs.

"Re-chan?" Keiichiro said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Oh, hi Akasaka-san," I said smiling.

"It's good to see you again Anderson-san," Keiichiro said, and then his voice dropped and his eyes softened, "And it's going to be good to have the old Ryou back."

"I know Akasaka-san," I said smiling, "And you can stop calling me Anderson-san. You can call me Resh."

"Alright Resh-chan," Keiichiro said smiling, "Call me Keiichiro then."

"Okay Keiichiro-kun. I guess I better get changed," I said and headed towards the locker room.

"Resh-chan," I turned to face him, "Thank you."

"Of course Keiichiro-kun," I said smiling, and went to the locker room.

***  
"Welcome to Café Mew Mew!" I said happily.

It was the first customer of the day, and so apparently since I was the new person, I had to help them. And, with my lucky lately, it happened to be Matoki.

"Ah, I get the most beautiful one," Matoki said smirking.

"Let me take you to your table," I said through gritted teeth. I had to be a good waitress, whether I liked the person or not.

"Alright," Matoki said.

"So what do you want to drink?" I asked as I handed him a menu and sat him down.

"Coke please," Matoki said.

"Alright, I'll be right back with that," I said and walked away, "Lettuce-chan." I had noticed that she wasn't working on anything at the moment, mainly just talking to Keiichiro.

"Yes Anderson-chan?" Lettuce said.

"Could you go and get Ryou-kun for me? He should be in his room," I said. I got a Coke ready for Matoki.

"Sure," Lettuce said, going upstairs.

"Thank you," I said, and took the Coke out to Matoki, "Here you are. Do you know what you want?"

"What I want isn't on the menu," Matoki said. The way he said it sent shivers down my spine, but not in a good way.

I was scared. His voice was cold and dark, and I had a bad feeling about what he had said. I looked at him in confusion. I was about to ask him what he meant, but before I could, he had grabbed me by the shoulders and kissed me! After getting over the shock, I brought my hands up to push him off. But he was too strong, and I felt him pull me closer.

'_Dammit! Ryou-kun you better hurry and understand!'_ I thought.

I felt Matoki be taken from me roughly, and nearly fell because of it. But someone wrapped an arm around my waist and I knew instantly that it was Ryou. I curled myself into him, and let a couple of tears fall. I faintly heard him make Matoki leave, and then felt him wrap his other arm around me, making small circles on my back.

"Ryou-kun…." I choked out.

"Sh, it's okay. He's gone," he said. His voice was deep, and was soothing to me. My knees felt weak all of the sudden. Before I could fall though, I suddenly felt myself being lifted up.

"Eep!" I said, surprised. I opened my eyes. Ryou had one arm under my knees and the other around my shoulders. He had a smirk on his face—undoubtedly from my "eep". I looked in his eyes. They showed anger, pain, and sadness. I reached up and caressed his cheek, getting him to blush. I smiled, "I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough to get him off me. I never wanted to kiss him. Please, understand that." I knew my voice sounded desperate, but I didn't care. I just wanted him to understand. I didn't want to fight with him any longer.

"I said before that it was okay," Ryou said.

"Oh," I said, "Your eyes though…."

"What about them?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You might try to hide your emotions, but I can ready you easily. You're angry, hurt and sad," I said. I then realized that we were in the middle of the dining area, and everyone was staring at us. Thankfully not that many people were here. I immediately hid my face in his chest and I felt and heard him chuckle. I felt him begin to walk and wondered where he was taking me, "Where are we going?"

"My room," Ryou said.

"What?! I can walk Ryou-kun!" I said. I could feel my face become beet red, "And why are you taking me there?!"

"Because," he said, and entered the kitchen, "Back to work!" he bellowed.

As he took me upstairs, I knew people were talking. He set me down gently on the bed and sat down beside me, "Ryou-kun…" I said sitting up and moving so I sat beside him.

"Do you think you're okay to work? Or would you rather go home?" Ryou asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said and leaned against him, "I'm so sorry Ryou-kun…."

"Re-chan, its fine. It's not your fault," Ryou said, taking my hand.

"I know, but I still feel bad…." I said.

"Don't," Ryou said, squeezing my hand.

"Alright…so why are we up here?" I asked.

"I just brought you up here to make sure that you were alright," Ryou said, "Are you sure you want to go back to work?"

"Yeah, it's nothing to worry about Ryou-kun," I said smiling, "I'm okay now."

"Are you sure?" Ryou said.

"Yes, yes, now stop being a worry-wart. I'm fine," I said, waving my hand.

"Alright…." Ryou said reluctantly.

"Thanks Ryou-kun," I said, standing up.

"Of course," Ryou said smiling.

I couldn't help but grin. He had smiled again. I waved, and walked out of the room, trying to keep myself from doing a happy-dance at getting him to smile again.

"And what are you so happy? You were only up there for a couple of minutes," Mint said as I passed her table.

"Oh, hello Aizawa-san; I didn't know you had entered," I said smiling, "I'm just happy that Ryou-kun forgave me."

"Ryou-kun?!" Mint said, spitting her tea out.

"Yes, is something wrong with me calling my boyfriend that?" I questioned.

"Y-your boyfriend?! You just met, like, two days ago!" Mint said.

"No, no. We knew each other when he lived in America," I said, "We were best friends when we were younger."

"Oh," Mint said, clearly embarrassed from the shock.

"Anderson-chan! Look out!" Lettuce called.

Lettuce was in mid-trip, and had dropped plates, making them come towards me and Mint. I quickly pushed Mint off her chair and fell to the ground along with her.

"What was that for?!" Mint exclaimed, standing up angrily and brushing herself off.

"Are you alright?" I said, ignoring her question.

"Why did you push me to the ground? You got my uniform dirty!" Mint said.

I could tell she was spoiled just from that comment. I could not stand spoiled people, "I'm sorry Aizawa-san. I was only trying to make sure that you weren't hurt," I said. All I could do was try not to get on her bad side. It was never good to get on a spoiled brat's bad side.

"You're going to pay for my uniform to be cleaned! I don't even see why you're on this team!" Mint said angrily.

"Mint-chan, apologize immediately!" Ryou said entering the room.

"Why should I? She's the one that pushed me!" Mint said, pointing towards me.

"Because she was making sure you weren't hurt!" Ryou retorted.

My wrist suddenly started hurting me. I then realized that Mint's tea cup had broken and shards were on the ground. Shards were also in my wrists. It hurt to move my left one, although my right one seemed fine.

"Shit," I cursed.

I tried to get up. But it was difficult with my left wrist hurting, as I couldn't support myself and pull myself up at the same time.

"Um…Ryou-kun?" I said. Ryou was now glaring at Mint, who was intent on glaring back at him. She still hadn't said anything to him regarding his statement on why I had pushed her off.

"What's wrong?" Ryou said, turning to me instantly. My voice seemed to snap him from his thoughts, "Did you hurt your ankle?"

All the other workers looked at us in shock. I could tell they weren't used to hearing the concern that was evident in Ryou's voice, let alone see him act this way, "No, no, it's just my wrist," I said, shaking my head.

"And you still can't get up?" Ryou doubted. Great, the new Ryou was back. Apparently he noticed my face as I realized that.

"Yes! I can't support myself and pull myself up when I have shards in my wrist," I said, showing him my left wrist that now had blood dripping from it.

He kneeled in front of me and took my hand gently in his. He then released that wrist, and took my right one, standing and pulling me up as well.

"Thanks," I said, and tried to get a better look at my wrist. The pain was still too bad though to get a good look at it.

"We are going to the hospital," Ryou said, "You need to have a doctor make sure that your wrist is okay."

"But—"I protested.

"You're coming with me," Ryou said forcefully.

"Fine," I said sighing. I knew I wouldn't win with him.

"Anderson-onee-chan, are you okay?" Pudding asked.

My heart jumped at being called "onee-chan", which was big sister. I smiled at her, "I've just hurt my wrist. I'll be fine though."

"Anderson-chan, I'm so sorry!" Lettuce said bowing.

"Lettuce-chan, it's okay. It's not your fault," I said smiling, "I was the one that probably hit the tea cup. Or else it was my fault for pushing Aizawa-san," I then turned to Mint, "I apologize for that Aizawa-san. I didn't mean to hurt you or anything. I was merely trying to make sure that you were alright."

"Yes, yes," Mint said, waving it off, "It's fine."

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Ichigo said.

"Yes Ichigo-chan, sorry to leave you with all of the work for today," I said smiling.

"For today—you probably aren't going to be working again for the rest of this week," Ryou said.

"But Ryou-kun," I protested.

"He's right Anderson-san. It's going to be best if you stay home with that wrist," Masaya said. Apparently he had already looked at my wrist. Crap.

"But—"I said.

"Resh-chan, listen to them," Keiichiro said.

"I'm sure it's going to be fine!" I said. Great, all the boys were against me!

"But it's best to be safe. You should take the rest of this week off Resh-chan," Keiichiro instructed.

I sighed. I knew I wasn't going to win against ALL of them, "Fine," I said sighing.

"Good, now let's go," Ryou said, taking my right hand.

"Shirogane," the lavender haired girl that I instantly recognized as Zakuro said.

"Yes Zakuro-chan," Ryou said.

"Be careful," Zakuro said, "And it's good to see you smile."

Ryou rolled his eyes and led me out of the café, "Ryou-kun."

"Yeah?" Ryou said.

"Thanks," I said.

"Of course," Ryou said smiling.

"Actually Ryou-kun," I said, taking note of the blood coming off my hand.

"Oh yeah, let's get you some towels," Ryou said, "You stay, I'll be just a minute."

"Alright," I said.

Ryou ran back to the café, and while he did I looked at my wrist. It didn't look too bad, but I knew it would hurt when they removed the teacup shards. I only hoped I wouldn't have to get stitches.

"Zakuro-chan is going to take us," Ryou said, walking over to me with Zakuro, two hand towels in hand.

"Thank you Fujiwara-san," I said bowing.

"Let's just hurry and get you to the hospital," Zakuro said.

We got into Zakuro's car, and she drove us to the hospital, "We'll call when we're done," Ryou said as we got out of the car.

"Alright, get better quickly," Zakuro said.

"Thanks," I said, getting out of the car.

"May I help you?" the receptionist asked as we entered the Emergency Room.

"I dropped a teacup and some shards got in my wrist," I said, showing her my wrist.

"A doctor will be with you in a minute," the receptionist said.

"Thanks," Ryou said.

"Of course," she said, sending him a flirtatious smile.

Ryou rolled his eyes and led me to a chair, "Let me see it," he said.

I showed him my wrist, and he took it gently. But he moved his hand and hit right near the cuts. I screamed and he immediately pulled his hand away.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It's…okay," I said, giving him a small smile, "It just hurts a little. You can still look."

"Are you sure?" Ryou asked. Concern filled his voice as his eyes softened. I nodded. He took my hand gently and began to look at it, "I don't think you'll need stitches, probably just some gauze."

"Hopefully," I said.

"Anderson, Resha-san," a tall, 30-year-old man said.

"Yes," I said standing and bowing, "May he come with me?"  
"Yes, what is your name?" the doctor asked.

"Shirogane Ryou," Ryou said bowing.

"Shirogane? As in _the_ Shiroganes? Your father was a scientist, correct?" the doctor said.

"Yes," Ryou said. I noticed sadness and pain in his eyes and his voice had become cold. I held his hand with my good hand, and he squeezed it.

"He is known throughout all of Japan. I wasn't aware that he had come back after living in America," the doctor said.

"Doctor, can we please just get to my wrist?" I asked. I saw Ryou clench his other fist and he squeezed my hand again lightly, causing me to squeeze his back. I knew he didn't want to talk about his parents.

"Oh, right," he said, "I'm Dr. Asaki." Dr. Asaki led us down a hallway and into a small room, "So let's see your wrist," I held it out for him, "This had to have hurt," he said.

"A little," I answered.

"I'll be right back with a tray and tools to get those shards out," Dr. Asaki said.

"Will she need stitches?" Ryou asked.

"Surprisingly not—the shards aren't too deep," Dr. Asaki said, and left.

"Ryou-kun," I said.

"Hm?" Ryou said.

I patted the seat next to me. I could tell he was still hurt from the doctor talking about his father. He sat next to me and I held his hand, laying my head on his shoulder, "I'm sorry," I said softly.

"It's not your fault. And I should be over it anyways. It was five years ago," Ryou said.

"You lost two people who you loved deeply. It doesn't matter how long ago it was—it's always going to hurt," I said.

"Thanks," Ryou said, and leaned down and kissed my cheek.

"Of course," I said blushing.

"How is your hand?" he asked.

"Hurting a little still, but it should be fine," I said.

"Alright, give me your wrist," Dr. Asaki said, entering with a rolling tray.

He took the shards out of my wrist after cleaning the cuts. I nearly screamed, and squeezed Ryou's hand tightly. After removing the shards, Dr. Asaki quickly put gauze over the cuts. He took white first aid tape and put it over the gauze.

"Just change the gauze and tape whenever it's bleeding too much," Dr. Asaki said.

"Alright, thank you," I said, "Would it be okay if I worked with it?"

"I would wait a day or two," Dr. Asaki said.

"Alright, thanks again," I said.

"Of course," Dr. Asaki said.

As soon as we left the hospital, I took my cell phone out of my apron pocket and handed it to Ryou. He looked at in confusion, "I was just going to use a pay phone."

"The café number isn't in there anyways," I said.

"Alright," Ryou said.

A minute later, Ryou was off of the phone and had added the café's number to my cell phone. A few minutes later, Zakuro had arrived and we were in her car.

"Re-chan, you're going to get changed, and then we'll go to your house, talk to your mom, and then go out, okay?" Ryou said.

"Alright," I said sighing.

"Something wrong?" Ryou asked in English.

"No," I said.

"Are you sure?" I was shocked to hear Zakuro asking.

"You speak English?" I questioned.

"Yes, I'm a model. I know a lot of different languages," Zakuro said.

"I thought you seemed familiar," I said smiling, "I'm sorry I didn't know."

"It's okay. I'm a Japanese model, so if I were American you would probably know," Zakuro said.

"Actually probably not, I'm not one for trends," I said.

"You don't act it sometimes," Ryou said.

"I know," I said sighing, "The first day of school here in Tokyo, I was asked by the popular girls to be part of their group."

"Why did you say no?" Zakuro asked. I wondered how she knew I had said no to them.

"Because I don't care about popularity," I said, looking out the window, "I just want to do well in school, have friends I know I can count on and go to a good college. I don't really care about being popular."

"At least I know I don't have to worry about dealing with another person like Mint-chan," Zakuro said. I had not expected that comment from her.

"You don't like Aizawa-san?" I said.

"I don't mind her," Zakuro said, "I refused to join the group at first. I didn't think that I needed other people. But…I've warmed up to the ground. And sometimes I just can't stand Mint-chan's attitude."

"I don't know who really could," I muttered.

"I know what you mean," Zakuro said. I looked in the rearview mirror to see her smirking, "So what's the deal with the wrist?"

"I only have to have gauze on it. It has to be changed when it gets too bloody. It hurt like crazy when the doctors took the pieces out," I said.

"When do you think you'll be able to work again?" Zakuro asked.

"Depends on when Ryou-kun and Keiichiro-kun let me. And Aoyama-san since all three boys jumped on me today about it," I said, glaring at Ryou.

"Hey!" Ryou said, "Probably not until next Wednesday, just to be on the safe side."

"What if there's a Kimera Anima attack?" Zakuro asked, "And you haven't told the rest of us exactly why she was infused."  
"Yeah, there's going to be a meeting Saturday after work about it since everyone but Re-chan is going to be there," Ryou said.

"I'll stop by then," I said.

"But—"Ryou said.

"Ryou-kun, I don't care what you say. I'm going to stop by. I'm a mew, and it's my responsibility to be there whether you like it or not," I said.

"You're responsible, good," Zakuro said, nodding her head slightly.

"Fine," Ryou said sighing.

"You haven't transformed yet, have you?" Zakuro said.

"No," I said sadly.

"I'm sure you will soon," Zakuro said.

"Thanks Fujiwara-san," I said smiling.

"Call me Zakuro-chan," Zakuro said.

I was in shock. Ichigo and Lettuce had told me how cold Zakuro was. Alright, so it was mainly Ichigo that had told me….But I was still in shock. I never thought she would warm up to me that fast.

"You're a good kid. You deserve happiness and you'll fit in perfectly in the team as soon as you warm up to Mint-chan," Zakuro said, pulling into the café's parking lot.

"Somehow after today I think that's going to take a long time," I said groaning as I got out of the car after she turned the engine off, "And call me Resh-chan."

"It'll be fine," Zakuro said as she and Ryou got out as well.

"Go and get changed and I'll get your things from upstairs," Ryou said as we entered through the back of the café.

"Right," I said.

"Anderson-onee-chan!" Pudding said.

"Fong-san, call me Resh! You too Ichigo-chan, Lettuce-chan," I said smiling, laughing as I hugged the young monkey-girl, "Aoyama-san, you too. And Aizawa-san…if you want, you can too." I looked at the young girl, who sat at the same table, drinking tea.

"I would rather not," Mint said.

"Why not?" Ichigo said, "She's part of the team."

"Just because she is a part of the team doesn't mean I have to be friends with her," Mint stated.

"Mint-chan," Zakuro said. Her voice was slightly cold and annoyed.

"Yes Zakuro-onee-sama," Mint said, looking at her. I realized Zakuro had to be Mint's idol. I mentally groaned.

"She saved you from getting hit with plates—and got some of your teacup in her wrist in the process. You owe her—big time. You need to give her what she deserves. And that's not only your friendship, but your respect as well," Zakuro said, and placed a hand on my shoulder, "She has mine." With that being said, she walked out to the front of the café.

All of us were in shock of what Zakuro had said. She seemed so different from what Ichigo had told me, and of what little Ryou had told me as well.

"Yes, I'm sorry Anderson-san," Mint said.

"It's alright Aizawa-san, and that offer to call me Resh-chan is always up," I said smiling at the other girl.

"Thank you…Resh-chan," Mint said.

"Of course Aizawa-san," I said.

"Mint-chan," her voice had dropped to a whisper and I had barely heard her.

"Yes Mint-chan," I said smiling.

"Get changed Re-chan," Ryou said.

"Right," I said, and went to the locker room.

I quickly changed, and Ryou was downstairs with my bag in hand, "Girls, there's going to be a meeting Saturday after work," he said before opening the back door.

"Come back and visit Resh-onee-chan!" Pudding said, "And call me Pudding-chan!"

"I promise, I will!" I said happily, and left with Ryou.

"It seems you've become friends with them all faster than I expected," Ryou said as we walked to my house.

"I was already kind of friends with Ichigo-chan and Lettuce-chan. And Pudding-chan is just all around nice and energetic and everything so it was easy to warm up to her," I said, "I never expected to warm up that quickly to Zakuro-chan or Mint-chan after what I've heard about Zakuro-chan and what happened with Mint-chan."

"I think everyone was surprised with Zakuro-san," Ryou said.

"Yeah, I noticed," I said.

**Thanks for reading everyone! Please leave me a review!**

**-Butterfly**


	8. Chapter Seven: Going Around Tokyo

Hey everyone! Here is the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.

**Chapter Seven: Going Around Tokyo**

Ryou and I walked quickly back to my house. "Mom," I called as we entered the house.

"Sweetie, what are you doing home already? Shouldn't you be at work?" mother asked, walking into the foyer. She looked like she was going to faint when she saw Ryou, "Sh-Shirogane Ryou?" she said, stammering. Never have I ever seen my mother stammer.

"Yes, it's great to see you again Anderson-sama," Ryou said bowing.

"You look…you look just like your parents. You have your mother's hair and eyes, but everything else is just like your father," she said. I could tell she was almost going to start to cry.

"It's good to hear that," Ryou said. He smiled slightly at my mother. I was glad. He was really trying to open up and not let his parents' death get to him any longer.

"Resh told me how you've changed and what happened yesterday," mother said. She just had to mention that. And I had actually almost forgotten that it had happened.

"Yeah, and it's caused me to realize how stupid I am," Ryou said, "I hope you don't mind, but we're dating now."

"Why would I mind when your mother and I both thought that that was going to happen between you two?" mother said, smiling sweetly. Her smile then suddenly became a face of worry, "Oh, I'm sorry! I hope I am not offending you by talking about them right now."

"Not at all surprisingly," Ryou said smiling again. I smiled again as well and held his hand. I was glad that I could see that he was being honest through his eyes.

"Why don't you get changed and take your bag up to your room before we leave?" Ryou said, looking at me.

"Right!" I said smiling, and took my bag from him, heading upstairs.

I could faintly hear their conversation from my bedroom, "Anderson-sama," Ryou said.

"Please Shirogane-san, just call me Anna-chan or just Anna," mother said. I knew she must be smiling.

"Alright Anna-chan. Call me Ryou or Ryou-kun then," Ryou said, "I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to take Re-chan out around Tokyo and to dinner."

"Of course I don't mind Ryou-kun," mother said, "And Ryou-kun…"

"Yes?" Ryou said.

"I know you've perfected what your father lived for. I know about the project. I saw the mark on her neck," mother's voice was slightly dark and worried; "I ask you only one thing Ryou-kun."

"Anything for you Anna-chan. You were like another mother to me when I was younger," I never thought I would hear him say those words. I hid by the stairwell after changing into a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt. I knew I shouldn't be eavesdropping, but I wanted to know what they were saying.

"I helped your father with his studies, as you know," mother said, "And I just…I ask that you protect Resh and make sure nothing bad happens to her."

"I'll protect her with my life. I won't let anything happen to her. I haven't let anything happen to any of the girls and I don't intend to let it happen now," Ryou said. His voice was slightly cold but I could tell he was being serious, "I won't let anything hurt her. I made a mistake in hurting her and I won't make it again. I promise you Anna-chan."

I could tell my mother was going to cry, "Thank you Ryou-kun…thank you so much," mother said, "And I expect to see you for dinner at least once a week!"

I almost laughed at this comment and could hear Ryou chuckling a little as I walked down the stairs, "I won't be able to avoid it, will I?" he said.

"No," both my mother and I said.

"You heard us?" Ryou said.

"Only when mother said about dinner," I lied. I knew he could probably tell I was lying, and so could mother.

"Don't lie to us Resh," mother said.

"I don't know why I even lied. I knew you guys would probably know," I said sighing, "I could hear everything—especially about the mews."

"That's why she's working at Café Mew Mew," Ryou said.

"Just be careful, and keep me in the loop. I helped create the mews with your father Ryou-kun…" mother said.

"I know Anna-chan. That was why we saw you so often," Ryou said.

"Right," mother said smiling.

"Oh mom, I won't be going to work for the rest of the week," I said. I wondered why she hadn't noticed it yet.

"Why not?" she asked.

I held my wrist up. She immediately gasped and ran to me, holding my hand gently, "What the hell happened?!" she said.

"I was making sure that plates that one mew, who is also in my class, Lettuce Midorikawa-chan, dropped didn't hit another mew, Mint Aizawa-chan. She was drinking tea like she usually only does, and the cup ended up breaking and I got cut pretty badly," I said, "I just have to change the gauze when it gets really bloody."

"Alright," mother said sighing, "Just be careful. And you better make sure she's careful with it Ryou-kun."  
"I will Anna-chan," Ryou said chuckling, "Come on, we should be going Re-chan."

"Right, thanks a lot mom," I said, and hugged my mother.

"And Ryou-kun," mother said.

"Yes?" Ryou said.

"Every Sunday you're eating dinner with us," mother said, "Is Akasaka Keiichiro-san with you?"

"He's my legal guardian actually," Ryou said.

"Bring him with you too," mother said.

"Alright," Ryou said smiling, and took my hand gently, "Come on, let's go Re-chan."

I blushed as we headed out of the house. It felt like I was back in New York, going out on my first date with any boy. I sighed, I missed my friends dearly. If only there wasn't a 13 hour difference between Tokyo and New York. It was going to be about 4:00 in the morning there.

"Is something wrong?" Ryou asked.

"I just miss my friends in America," I said smiling at him, "It's nothing though. I write them and e-mail them a lot, but sometimes…it's just not enough. I wanna talk to them, hear their voices."

"And there's that 13 hour time difference, so it's not like you can just call them now," Ryou said.

"Yeah," I said and looked at the sky, "But it's going to be fine. I am hoping to be able to fly out there during summer vacation so that I can also visit my grandparents and my dad."

"Yeah," Ryou said.

"What about you? Do you ever wish that you could go back to America?" I asked.

"Why? There's nothing left there for me," Ryou said.

"Oh…" I said.

"When I was younger I would have wanted to. But I became involved with the mew project a lot," Ryou said.

"Oh," I said sadly, "Don't you want to find out what happened to the land you used to live on now?"

"Kind of," Ryou said, "So did you stay in the same place that you guys moved to right before the fire?"

"No, mom and I moved again," I said, "We lived in a small town called Bonita. And it was beautiful—just like the name translates to mean in Spanish."

"What languages do you speak?" Ryou asked.

"Japanese and English fluently obviously, Spanish pretty well, and a little bit of Chinese," I said.

"Wow," Ryou said.

"Yeah, I was glad that I knew Japanese when we find out that we were moving here to Tokyo," I said, "I was completely against it at first, but then I wanted to."

"Okay," Ryou said.

"And now I'm really glad I moved. I've met some really good friends. And I got to see you and Keiichiro-kun again," I said smiling at him.

"Yeah," Ryou said, "I'm glad I met the girls. Don't tell them I said that though. I mean, yeah, sometimes they're annoying, but it's good to have met them."

"Yeah, I know what you men. I just hope I can get used to Mint-chan," I said, "Ichigo-chan and Lettuce-chan and I met during school, so I already know them kind of. They're awesome. And Pudding-chan…I just don't know how anyone could not love her. I mean, she's so energetic and nice and everything it's hard to believe that anyone could hate her. And Zakuro-chan…I haven't really heard anything about her, except that she's cold and everything. But she doesn't seem like that to me. I'm glad. She just…to me she seems like she mainly just wants to do work and doesn't really want to have fun. And Mint-chan…you've seen how I am towards her. I want to be friends, but I don't want her attitude. I don't like stuck-up brats that they can do whatever they want just because they're rich."

"Yeah, I remember you almost beat a girl up for that," Ryou said, smiling slightly.

"Oh yeah!" I said laughing, "So where are we going?"

"Anywhere you want," Ryou said.

"Can we go by some stores? I still have some money and I wanna get some new t-shirts. I have a lot of old ones that look like crap and have words in English so barely anyone would be able to understand it," I said, "Plus with some I might just get in trouble for what they say if the English teacher sees them…."

"Why? What do they say?" Ryou said.

"Just some inappropriate stuff for school—I got in trouble for wearing them to school in America so I probably would get in trouble here too," I said rubbing my neck.

"Oh, okay," Ryou said, and we turned a corner, "So what kind of stores? Clothing?"

"Obviously," I said rolling my eyes.

"Alright then," Ryou said, "Do you have money?"

"Yeah, in America I had a job and got paid," I said, "I worked at an arcade in town."

"No wonder you're so good with little kids that come to the café with their parents," Ryou said.

"Yeah, I love little kids," I said smiling, "I used to babysit a lot."

"You seemed to really get a lot of money," Ryou said.

"Well mom and I used to be really tight on money, and I wanna start saving for college already," I said.

"Oh," Ryou said, "I'm sure you'll get a scholarship though. Do you plan to go to college in the United States or here in Japan?"

"I don't know," I said, "Depends on what colleges seem best. I've already started to look around here at the colleges."

"Why so early? You're only in your first year of secondary," Ryou said.

"But in America that's my sophomore year, and I want to be prepared," I said.

"Whatever," Ryou said.

"What about you? Do you plan to go to college?" I asked.

"I don't know. Depends really," Ryou said, "I don't know what will happen with the way school is right now. It's really boring to me, since I'm a genius. I don't really even have to be in school."

"Why are you then?" I asked.

"The project—we had to make sure that you were perfect for it," Ryou said.

"Can we not talk about that for once? That's all we talk about sometimes…and when we were younger you used to talk about it a lot," I said.

"Sorry," Ryou said, squeezing my hand lightly.

"Anderson-san!" Matoki said.

"What Kino-san?" I said. I was getting tired of seeing him almost everywhere I went.

"There's someone I want you to meet," Matoki said.

"Why? We aren't friends or anything," I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I don't care," Matoki said.

A tall, 16-year-old boy with short brown hair and hazel eyes walked over. He had a wonderful smile on, and his eyes seemed to twinkle when he saw me. He had a good build too. Okay, even though I had a boyfriend—that happened to be standing right beside me at the moment—he was cute; extremely cute.

"Hi, I'm Anderson Resha," I said smiling.

"Reno Touya," the boy said smiling.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said. I released Ryou's hand and holding it out for him.

"The pleasure is mine," the boy, Touya, said, kissing my hand.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I forgot the Japanese way!" I said, blushing madly as I bowed, "I'm American. I often forget the Japanese ways."

"It's quite alright my dear," Touya said smiling as he bowed, "I figured when Matoki-kun said that you were beautiful and had hazel eyes and were actually from America. I must say, he underestimated your beauty."

"Thank you," I said blushing.

"I'm Shirogane Ryou, Re-chan's boyfriend," Ryou said, bowing angrily to Touya.

"Ryou-kun, calm down," I said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Shirogane-san," Touya said bowing, "I hope that I did not offend you or Anderson-san."

"No, it's fine," I said smiling and took Ryou's hand again, giving it a light squeeze.

"What happened to your hand Anderson-san?" Matoki asked, pointing to my bad hand.

"Oh, I cut myself on a teacup trying to make sure one of my new friends and co-workers didn't get hurt," I said, "It's fine though."

"You should still be careful with it though," Touya said, "And I hope to see you again. My cousin and I have to be going. Do you go to the same school as him?"

"Yes, Tokyo High," I said.

"I'll see you in school hopefully then," Touya said, bowed and walked away with Matoki following him.

"Let's go," Ryou said, pulling my hand roughly and jerking my body to follow him.

"Hey! Ryou-kun, calm down!" I said, my arm hurting slightly from the sudden jerk, "That hurt…."

"What?" Ryou said.

"You jerked my arm. It hurt," I said, rubbing my arm.

"Sorry, I'm just…." Ryou said, his sentence trailing off.

"It's okay. I know what you mean," I said smiling, and leaned my head on his arm, "Where are we going to go for dinner?"

"You'll see," Ryou said smiling slightly.

"You aren't going to tell me, are you Ryou-kun," I said.

"Nope," Ryou said smirking.

"Jerk," I said, pushing him slightly.

"Yep," Ryou said, and released my hand, putting his hand over my shoulder.

"Hey Ryou-kun," I said, blushing as he pulled me closer slightly.

"Yeah?" Ryou said.

"This might be uncomfortable to ask you, but have you ever had a girlfriend?" I asked.

"The only one I had was maybe for a week and she couldn't handle me being so cold after that," Ryou said.

I realized then that he probably had never smiled until I came. I was both happy and saddened by that. He had hurt himself so much by doing that…he was hurting others too. He had hurt Keiichiro…Ichigo…Pudding…Lettuce, too; maybe even Mint and Zakuro as well.

"You should have smiled more," I said, "I don't mean to make you feel guilty by saying this, but you probably hurt a lot of people by not smiling—Keiichiro-kun, Ichigo-chan maybe, Lettuce-chan, and Pudding-chan for sure. Maybe even Zakuro-chan and Mint-chan too."

"I…I know," Ryou said sighing, "That's why I'm changing now. None of them told me, so I never thought about it. Keiichiro used to, and then I told him I didn't want to be happy because of my parents being gone, and he never pressed on it again. He's…he's not only my legal guardian, he's my best friend and like a big brother to me."

"I'm hurt! My place as best friend has been taken!" I mocked, touching my chest.

"No, it hasn't. You've only been moved up to girlfriend," Ryou said, kissing my head.

"You act like you've had some many girlfriends Ryou-kun," I said, sighing dreamily as I laid my head on his shoulder, "Oh! Can we go to a bookstore? I want to check out some books."

"Alright," Ryou said smiling, "Still a bookworm; I remember you used to bug my mom or Keiichiro to read to you."

"Yeah! Oh what was it I used to call him when I was bugging him to read to me…oh what was it?!" I said, trying to remember.

"Kei I think it was," Ryou said.

"Oh yeah! I remember one time I wanted to be read to so badly I even called him Kei-kun!" I said and grinned, "Man we used to have so much fun together…."

"Yeah," Ryou said sighing, and suddenly stopped.

"What's up?" I said, looking up at him.

He just pointed towards the street. A large monster was in the street, and seemed to be attacking the buildings! I looked to Ryou, "That is a Kimera Anima," he stated. His voice had taken on its cold attitude and I hated it.

"Call the others. I'll transform," I said. Somehow my heart was telling me what to do.

"But your wrist!" Ryou debated.

"I'll risk it. I would rather have the city safe and my wrist hurt a little more than the city destroyed just because of my wrist," I said, "I promise, I'll be fine. Just call the girls. I'll go to an ally to transform."

"Be careful," Ryou said, looking me in the eyes.

"I promise," I said. I kissed his cheek and ran to a nearby alley.

I pulled my power pendant out from my pocket. Ryou was suddenly in front of me, "I need your phone," he said.

"Here," I said, handing him my phone.

"Thanks," he said. He kissed me quickly and then ran out of the alley.

It was time for action. I had to do this. I took a deep breath and held the power pendant tighter in my hands, pulling it towards my heart. Words suddenly came into my head and I found myself yelling them, "MEW MEW BUTTERFLY METAMORPHOSIS!"

I suddenly felt warmth radiate through my body. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again I looked at myself. My hair was a light purple with light blue highlights. My glasses were gone, but I had perfect vision. I felt a choker on my neck, and my power pendant was there. I wore a light purple skirt that went to my knees, a light purple strapless shirt, and cupped sleeves on my arms that were light purple with a light blue trim. I wore light purple ballerina flats and elbow length purple gloves. I felt my back, as I suddenly felt pain there, and a pair of butterfly wings was on my back!

I ran out to the street, not knowing what to do as people were running around everywhere. I hoped the others would hurry, as I had no idea what I was doing.

"And who do we have here?" what looked to be an alien said. He had green hair that was tied in what seemed to be two pigtails and wore a strange outfit that I couldn't explain at the moment.

"Depends on who you are," I said. I had to stall until the others got here. I looked out of the corner of my eyes to try to find Ryou. I couldn't find him. I only hoped that he was safe.

"You haven't heard of me and you're a mew? Most definitely new," the alien said, floating around me.

"Kisshu stay away from her!" I recognized the voice instantly. It was Ichigo.

I looked behind me, where five girls stood in a long line. A girl in pink was in the center; her eyes were pink and her hair was sugar pink. She wore a torso-like top, large pink skirt with red trim, mountain boots, her cupped sleeves were pink with red trim, and she had small gloves. Cat ears were on her head and she had a cat tail that had a yellow bell with a red ribbon. I wondered if she was Ichigo, as I remembered her DNA was of an Iriomote Cat. To her left was a girl in blue. Her hair was just like Mint's but blue. I knew from that alone that it was Mint. Her eyes were blue and she wore a short light blue dress, short boots and small gloves. Her cupped sleeves were light blue with blue trimmings. She had bird wings and a bird tail. On her other side was a girl in purple. Her hair was light purple and her eyes were blue. She wore a crop top, short shorts, long boots and wrist bands. Her cupped sleeves were light purple with blue trim. Wolf ears were on her head and she had a wolf's tail as well. I wondered if it was Zakuro, since her DNA was infused with a Gray Wolf. To Ichigo's right was a girl in green. Her light green hair was in a long while ribbon, her eyes were green, and she wore a torso-like green top with a green bodysuit underneath and boots. Antenna were on her head. I wondered if it was Lettuce because of how she looked shy and Lettuce's DNA was of a Finless Porpoise. To the other side of her was a young girl. Because of how young she seemed I knew it was Pudding. Her hair was the same and she had yellow eyes. She wore a jump-suit like uniform, had long socks with small Chinese style shoes, and a small gloves. She had monkey ears and a monkey tail.

"And why is that my little Koneko?" the alien, Kisshu, said. That broke me out of my thoughts as he suddenly grabbed my waist.

"Leave her alone Kisshu or you'll regret it," the purple girl said.

"Let go of me Kisshu!" I said, pushing him off.

"I'm not going to tell you!" I said angrily. I was angry. It was bad enough I didn't know what was going on, but I didn't need him groping me! I kicked him in the stomach, and it sent him flying into another building.

"Mew Pudding-chan and Mew Lettuce-chan, handle the Kimera Anima! The rest of us will take care of Kisshu!" Mew Ichigo instructed.

I was right. The one in yellow was Mew Pudding and the one in green was Mew Lettuce, "I'm fine," I said, "Who are you though?"

"You already know us," the girl in blue said.

"Mew Mint-chan!" the girl in pink said, "She knows us when we aren't transformed. Sorry Resh-chan. Ichigo. That's Mew Zakuro-chan."

"That's what I thought. I wanted to be sure though," I said. I knew my voice and eyes were cold. I could hear and feel it. I didn't want to scare them, "I want answers when this done."

"You're dating the creator and you don't know anything?" Mew Zakuro said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I know the details behind the attacks, but not what happens during them," I said.

"That hurt little Chouchou!" Kisshu said, flying back over to us.

"Uh, Mew Ichigo-chan, girls?" Mew Lettuce called, "We need some help!"

"Leave Kisshu alone—he's nothing big. The Kimera Anima is the one that is damaging the city," I said and my wings seemed to work on their own and flew me over to the girls, "Hey you guys, need some help?"

"If you don't mind!" Mew Lettuce said as she dodged an attack.

"Mew Resha at your service!" I said smiling. I closed my eyes, landing gracefully on the ground. I had to believe again, "BUTTERFLY STAFF!"

I opened my eyes and in my hand was a large staff. It went to my chin and the handle was light purple. A light blue butterfly with a light purple ring around it was at the top.

"RIBBON BUTTERFLY INFERNO!" I yelled.

I twirled the staff and then sent a blast of power towards the Kimera Anima. In bright purple lights, it was gone.

"Awesome! Mew Resha-onee-chan is great!" Mew Pudding said.

"Thanks Mew Pudding-chan, now let's help Mew Ichigo-chan and the other two," I said.

But they seemed to be fine. Kisshu was nowhere to be seen, "You three okay?" I asked as we all walked towards each other.

"Yeah, what about you three?" Mew Ichigo asked.

"Yeah! Mew Resha-onee-chan helped us!" Mew Pudding said.

"We need to detransform and head back to the café," Mew Zakuro said.

"Right," I said.

We went back into the ally, and all detransformed into our normal clothes, just thinking about our normal clothes again.

"You'll get answers either Saturday at the meeting or tonight if you ask Shirogane," Zakuro said.

"Right, thanks," I said and they left.

I exited the alley. I couldn't see Ryou. I looked at my watch—it was only 5:30. It was amazing all that had happened today. It was only Wednesday—and in one day I had gotten a boyfriend after crying over him and fighting with him; made him smile and promise to be nicer; cut myself with a teacup on accident; tried to save someone; and also became a mew. Wow, what a day.

"There you are," Ryou said, walking over to me with my cell phone in his hand, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about all that has happened today," I said smiling, taking my cell phone from him.

"Yeah, a lot has happened, "Ryou said, "You did great out there though. Good job."

"Thanks. I was a little scared at first. I'd never even really heard of Tokyo Mew Mew or everything that just happened until I first moved to Tokyo," I said, "So I had really no idea what to do. And, ugh, I really don't like that Kisshu guy."

"I don't know anyone that does really," Ryou said smirking, "He was after Ichigo-san for a while."

"Oh," I said, "But he caught me when I was mad. He was not only groping me pretty much—or at least looking at me and touching my waist—but I had no idea what I was doing so I was getting really mad. Thankfully Ichigo-chan and the others showed up."

"I saw," Ryou said. I saw him clench his fist, "I should have—"

"No," I said, touching his fist, "You shouldn't have. You did what you should have done. You may be the creator, but you shouldn't fight." I didn't know exactly how to tell him, but I needed to, "If you were to get hurt…I just…let's just say that people had better stay away from me for a while—especially the person that hurt you. I wouldn't forgive them, and I know that you would do the same thing, but I don't want you coming into battles. I know I probably shouldn't be telling you this since you're the creator, but I would rather not have you hurt because of the Kimera Animas that I'm supposed to be destroying with the others; or worse, trying to protect me. I wouldn't be okay. I wouldn't forgive myself for letting you get hurt or forgive the person that hurt you. Ryou-kun, I don't want you hurt."

Ryou looked into my eyes. I could see that he understood what I was saying. I knew he wanted to protest, but wouldn't. I knew he only wanted to protect me, but I didn't need it and I didn't need him hurt because of me.

He made me let go of his hand and wrapped his arms around my waist. I knew he just wanted me to know that he didn't care what I said, he would protect me. He didn't have to say it. I could see it in his eyes and tell by his actions.

I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly. I loved him. I knew then that I truly loved him. I wouldn't let anything get between us and I wouldn't let him get hurt. No matter what—even if I had to die. He was going to be safe, no matter what happened to me.

I could feel a tear run down my cheek, and hoped that Ryou hadn't felt it or know in any way about it. I didn't want him to worry. I wasn't going to tell him. Not yet at least. We had only started dating today.

Ryou pulled back slightly. I wondered what he was doing at first, but then he answered my question when he kissed me.

I laid my head on his shoulder, "Come on, we should go to the stores," he said.

"Yeah," I said sighing.

Ryou released me but kept one arm over my shoulder. We walked in silence. I knew we didn't need to say anything; it had all been said in our actions.

We passed a clothing store and in the window were cute outfits and a gorgeous dress. The dress was knee length light purple, spaghetti strap, V-neck and had a small light blue ribbon underneath the breasts.

"Come on," Ryou said, apparently seeing the dress and how I looked at it, "We'll go in the store and you can get them."

"Alright," I said smiling. I only hoped I had enough money.

We went inside the store and got a light purple one-shoulder shirt that had a light blue butterfly by the sleeve, a pair of skinny jeans, and high heeled boots.

"Wow—5,500 yen (50 dollars) for all of this," I said, adding up the prices and estimating as we stood in front of the line of dresses, "Damn, I won't have enough money for the dress too. I only have 8,800 yen and the dress is 4,400 yen."

"Why don't you get the dress instead then?" Ryou asked.

"Because I have nowhere to wear it really," I said.

"I'm actually holding a benefit at the café on Sunday. That's part of the meeting Saturday," Ryou said, "All the workers are invited."  
"Okay, so one place," I said.

"And school dances. Isn't there homecoming next week?" Ryou said.

"I would rather just have the outfit then the dress," I said.

"But you still want it, right?" Ryou said.

"Yes," I said sighing. Where was he going with all of this?

"What size are you?" Ryou asked, starting to go through the dresses.

"Uh, six. Why?" I said.

"I'm getting it for you," Ryou said, pulling a dress off of the rack.

"What? No Ryou-kun!" I said, "I can't let you buy it!"

"Too bad, you'll have to deal with it," Ryou said.

"But do you have the money?" I questioned. I knew I wouldn't be able to change his mind. He was extremely stubborn, just like always.

"Yeah, remember how much my parents had? I inherited it all," Ryou said.

"Oh," I said.

"Now come on, let's pay for this," Ryou said.

"Right," I said.

We paid for the things and I noticed that the cashier was trying to flirt with Ryou, but he put his façade on and became slightly cold. For once, I was grateful for it.

"Bookstore now?" Ryou said, taking my bags as we exited the store.

"Yeah," I said smiling.

As we walked to the bookstore, Ryou told me about different places and what places to stay away from and places that were okay. We went to the bookstore and I had bought a couple of books.

"Ryou-kun," I said as we headed to a restaurant.

"Yeah?" Ryou said.

"When is the benefit on Sunday?" I asked. I had just remembered that he, Keiichiro, my mother and I were going to start eating lunch or dinner together that day.

"Oh yeah that's right. The benefit isn't until 4:00—it's from four until eight," Ryou said.

"Alright, I guess we won't be going around Tokyo then," I said.

"Oh yeah," Ryou said.

"Don't worry, it's fine," I said smiling, "How about dinner at one and I'll go to the café with you and Keiichiro-kun and help you set up for the benefit?"

"Alright," Ryou said.

"So where are you going for dinner?" I asked.

"You'll see," Ryou said smirking.

"Oh come on Ryou-kun!" I said, tugging his arm.

"No, you'll see in a minute," Ryou said.

"Jerk," I said, crossing my arms.

"Here we are," Ryou said.

We stopped in front of a large restaurant. I looked at the name, and recognized it as one of the middle-grade restaurants in Tokyo, leaning more towards the expensive side.

"No way Ryou-kun—this restaurant is way too expensive," I said.

"Yes Re-chan—the food is great. I want to treat you, so come on," Ryou said.

Once again I knew I couldn't change his mind. I sighed, "Fine," I said.

"Good girl," Ryou said smiling.

We talked while we waited for our dinner and while we ate. We exited the restaurant and I continued to speak, "Oh you weren't kidding Ryou-kun! That food _was_ delicious! Thank you so much!"

"No problem," Ryou said smiling, "Now come on, let's get you home and make sure we don't need to change your gauze."  
"Alright, thanks so much Ryou-kun," I said, wrapping my arms around him.

"No problem. You can stop thanking me," Ryou said.

"I can't help it Ryou-kun," I said.

"Whatever," Ryou said, rolling his eyes.

We walked in silence the rest of the way home, just enjoying each other's company, "Hey mom, we're back," I said as we entered the house.

"Oh, hi!" mother said, "I take it you went out to dinner."

"Yeah," I said smiling.

"What did you get?" mother said, taking note of the bags in Ryou's hands.

"Some books, a cute top, a pair of skinny jeans, and a dress," I said.

"Were you able to afford all of that?" mother said, raising an eyebrow.

"I bought the dress," Ryou said, blush evident on his cheeks, "There's a benefit from four to eight Sunday night at the café. I hope you both can come."

"I'm going to go to it. I want to help them set up for it after dinner. Is that okay mom?" I asked.

"Yeah," mother said smiling, "I'll come too."

"Great, it's to help the café some. And some of the donations are also going to the Endangered species," Ryou said smiling.

"Of course," mother said laughing.

"Let's check your wrist. I should get back to the café too," Ryou said looking at the clock. It was 7:00 already.

"Oh yeah," I said.

I took the bags from Ryou and quickly put them in my room. I came back down, a First Aid Kit in hand. I had a feeling that even if it wasn't that bad Ryou was going to change it anyways, "Alright," I said.

We went into the kitchen and I sat at the table, Ryou sitting beside me. I was surprised at how gentle his hands were when he took the gauze and tape off and when he applied new ones as well as putting some anti-bacterial ointment to be on the safe side. I smiled as he finished and put everything back in the kit, "Thanks Ryou-kun," I said.

"Of course," Ryou said smiling, "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Okay," I said.

Ryou kissed me lightly and walked out of the house. Immediately my mother took his seat at the kitchen table, "So—tell me what happened!"

That was the good thing about my mother's and my relationship—we were like best friends. Having spent more time with my mother then nearly anyone, I grew to depend on her mainly. She was like my best friend and I knew that no matter what happened she would understand. I knew that she was always going to be with me and that she would support me.

I told her everything that had happened that day, and was glad that I didn't have to keep the part of being a mew to her.

**That's the next chapter! Sorry it took so long to upload the next chapter! Thanks to: **_**dream lighting**_** for all of the favorites and following!**

**-Butterfly**


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